Another close call

This evening started like many others.  Work until about 6:00pm, head for home etc.  Michael called me at about 6:00pm to ask me when I was coming home because it looked like hail and a big storm.  I'd been caught up in a meeting and we hadn't looked at the bom site all afternoon.

6:30pm I left work just at the beginning of the storm, the rain was falling fast and heavy and half way home I realised that I should have just waited it out at work.  It was so heavy that it was hard to drive and there was water running everywhere.

6:40pm When I got to the beginning of our road, I noticed that all of the small causeways were full, even though it had just been raining for ten minutes or so.  The stretch of road past the neighbour's house was almost a foot underwater. I thought again about turning back, but was closer to home and decided that if the creek causeway was underwater, then I would wait it out back at work.

6:45pm When I reached the creek, it was about 5 inches above the concrete causeway.  When I left home this morning it was running so low that you could almost say that in a day or two it would be completlye dry again. Because of the speed in which it had risen, I started to panic and called Michael. I told him that if I crossed the creek there was a chance we would not get out again tonight. But I also didn't want to go back the way I'd come, which was also getting higher.

6:46pm I crossed the creek and alerted Michael that we would pack straight away when we got back home. He was waiting for me at the gate, just 30 seconds later. I stepped out of the car into ankle deep water and walked through the gate to get in Michael's car (the ruts mean I cant take my car past the gate). The ruts were almost full of water and I stepped straight into one up to my knees in my stockings and shoes.

6:50pm At home we packed quickly and I called work to say we'd be back within 10 minutes for a room.

7:00pm We got back to the creek in the car and it had gone up another  foot or so, but it running much faster than only 15 minutes before. We decided not to chance it because we've seen it at all heights now and made a deal with ourselves not to cross it if we cant see any of the concrete and it has waves in it (it was as high as the video I posted back in December).

We turned back to go home.

7:02pm We reach our gate and a wave of water riding on top of the water already flowing it coming towards us down the driveway. It was literally a wave surfing on top of the flow. Within seconds it was flowing hard down the driveway and road and into the neighbour's paddock. We realised that something larger had given way at that moment and we were watching the first gush.

We reversed back to the creek to have another go and break our rule.

7:04pm The water was up another foot or so, to the tops of the white indicators (see the movie I posted from Sunday 9th and you'll get the picture).

We realised that the water was just rising everywhere and that we'd trapped ourselves with nowhere to go.  We tried to drive back up the driveway, thinking that it wasn't that deep after the initial wave but the back tyres got caught in a rut at the gate and we stalled.  Michael was able to reverse out of the submerged rut and we got back to a dryer part of the road. We sat in the car for a few minutes and pondered sitting there all night waiting for the water to subside.

A call from my boss confirmed what we had decided, that we would have to get out and wade back to the house, if we could.

We left our stuff in the car which we'd parked on a higher verge on the side of the road and started back to the driveway. Imagine me, in my gumboots, knee length work skirt tucked into undies,  work shirt, climbing a fence from knee deep water to knee deep water.

By this stage it was quite dark with lightning still lighting things up around. The rain had all but stopped. We had a small torch between us.  Michael went first and it was hard to stay on track because everything was underwater.  The whole paddock was a rushing lake. We walked small firm footsteps feeling for the compacted parts under our feet. If it wasn't so scary it would have been a hilarious scene in a movie.

When we got back to the house we inspected the laundry where our new washing machine was working away.  It was just delivered today and we were worried that with the rate that water had come up that it might have gone under the house again and into the laundry. Luckily the water didn't reach the house and the washing machine was safe.

Not taking any chances through, we emptied it out and hauled it up 8 steps to the back porch.(still in gumboot and afore mentioned attire).  Super human strength possible with all of that adrenalin.

We checked the bom and saw that the next storm was still a couple of hours away. Then I checked the site that monitors the creek where it goes under the bridge at Grandchester.  It went from a measily 0.33m at 6:50pm to a peak of 4.88m at 8:30pm. Almost at the levels where it was last Tuesday. Since 8:30pm, it has only dropped 30cm (it was 10pm when I last looked). Amazing. Just goes to show that after 6 days of searing heat and sunshine, the ground is still saturated.

We can hear the creek running now, it sounds like a train, with a deep rumble that is eerie after a couple of fine days. No chance of getting out tonight while it is still so high, based on recent experiences but as long as the rain holds off we should be ok.  Hopefully we will get out tomorrow morning and that the next storm will be a fizzler.

I keep trying to convince everyone that we need another New Years Eve party, and that we should write off the last 19 days as the year 2010 B. That way we can look back on that short 19 day year and say, gee, wasnt that year a stinker?  And start fresh with 2011.