Cobar flash flood

During the early hours of Thursday 31st January 2008, Cobar was hit by a severe storm. Around 2.30am thunder and lightening woke up the town. Over 100 millimetres of water fell from the sky as the heavens opened up. Rain, hail and wind pelted the town causing some flash flooding.

Buildings were flooded and several businesses suffered internal flood damage. Water caused roofing to callapse due to hail blocking the drainage systems.

The Grand Hotel leaked through from the upstairs hotel rooms, through to the main bar area, causing the ceiling to cave in. The Great Western's cellar was flooded, water had to be pumped out. Both hotels were able to operate as normal.

Other major stores had to close their doors while the clean up continued throughout the day. The local chemst cleared damaged stock and wet carpet was cleaned and dried. Harvey Norman had six inches of water throughout the store, all stock was damaged. The Cobar Paint Centre, also a carpet supplier, had rolls of expensive carpets ruined.

There were also reports of industrial and residential properties being flooded. Large sheds full of industrial equipment were washed out as flash flooding ran through the structures. Homes

also suffered the same fate causing disbelief to residents.

Water gushed down through the town overflowing street gutters onto footpaths. The Kidman Way, Barrier Highway and the Airport Road were cut off as low lying areas flooded. As the water receded the streets were left with a coat of red dirt, leaving an indication of the height the flooding reached.

The golf course and the "Newey" water recreational reserve were completely flooded. Only two months prior the Newey was almost empty, that empty you could see fish struggling to find water deep enough to swim in, it has now overflowed. The sand greens at the golf course represented little islands with red flags sticking out of them.

Residents had not seen so much water before. The Newey is the talk of the town, a continual stream of traffic flowed through the flooded entrance in their cars, risking the chance of being washed away. Everyone says the same thing "I've never seen it so full...", everywhere you go you hear discussions and gossip. I heard one person say that someone recorded eight inches.

The town is now soaked and we have plenty of water. Its been a pretty wet summer breaking a few records. The water is needed out here and now hopefully the big drought has been broke.