Disaster Area

I knew I shouldn't have written about welcome rain a few weeks ago. We've just had more than 48 hours of downpours, culminating in thunderstorms and a gale last night that brought down two trees in our street alone.

Yesterday afternoon, I went for a run on the beach - the rain is at least warm - and the sea was mass of white. From the top of the headland, you could see huge white crests, way out to sea, and this morning the streets were littered with debris and there were power cuts all over town.

It's still raining as I write, after a brief lull, and there is a small lake on the patio, between me and the herb garden. Parts of town are flooded and the historic jetty, built shortly after Captain Korff founded the settlement, has been closed after the swells penetrating the harbour bent it. Up in the hills, the hippy haven of Bellingen has been hard hit. And the state government has just declared us a disaster area NSW Gov Press Notice.

There's irony here. Coffs has just won the Enhancement of the Landscape Award at the 2004 finals of the International Awards for Liveable Communities in Niagara Falls, Canada, beating 47 other cities. And the day before the heavens opened, the council tightened our water restrictions, limiting further sprinkling and hosing by gardeners. However, the Karangi Dam, which provides most of our water, remains stubbornly at 66 per cent of capacity. I expect that's because most of the water is in our back yard.