My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Wilma comes to visit


I had grand plans of needle-turning one more block of this quilt before breakfast, but instead went for a walk to survey our soggy pastures.

Cyclone Wilma has visited Northland (edit; and the upper half of the North island, according to radio reports), bringing solid rain since lunchtime yesterday. Luckily we didn't get any winds or other cyclone features. The quiet little river through the centre of the farm has flooded. 200 mls (8 inches) of rain in about 14 hours has had this effect —

The view from the house section; these are supposed to be paddocks!
The bottom flats all covered in water
The power lines lead to the pump shed, we covered the
pump in gladwrap last night but fear the water may
have reached the switch board
We have never seen this area flooded before
The hill paddocks across the bridge are completely inaccessible, but we have 7 paddocks on the house side that are usable, and some hill paddocks across the road. So we're pretty lucky really, I'm sure there are others that wouldn't have faired so well.
Our horse-riding arena is under there somewhere! 
Luckily the MOML moved the kayak up to higher ground last night,
the usual 'safe spot' is under water. We'll need it later to check the
pump shed.
The road is well and truly blocked! We'll be flooded in
in the other direction too.
The steers are high and dry.
As are the horses, their usual 'safe spot' is also under water.
Usually we drain away quite quickly, although we may not get over the bridge for a couple of days. There will be a lot of fences to repair and rubbish to clear away.

14 comments:

  1. It was a rough night here for me...the water rose to just under my floorboards. Not nice at 2am!

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  2. Good grief - that is a lot of rain in a short time. Hope it all recedes just as quickly. Stay safe!

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  3. Oh heavens!!! you take care ..looks like you have your hands full with the stock..I grew up on a small farm....lots to do....

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  4. Glad to hear you are ok, although you won't be going anywhere much this morning except by paddle! We're ok too, thankfully. Just a big soggy.

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  5. Fortunately you all are safe! I hope the water is reseding soon! Take care!
    Greetings, Cisca

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  6. Hi Raewyn, I'm sorry you've got so much water, but happy to hear you are safe. Here we are overwhelmed with snow. Be safe!

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  7. Oh goodness Raewyn - stay safe and dry! Wilma certainly has made her presence known at your place hasn't she! This weekends rain on top of last is not good!

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  8. Glad to hear everyone is high and dry ... I suppose the up side of being flooded in is more stitching time ... that's what I've been doing too. :o)

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  9. Hope you will stay high and dry and you wont get too much devastation

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  10. Glad everyone is ok and hope the water goes down faaaaast! lot of water!

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  11. Wow I knew she was coming to visit but didn't realize she was bring so much water with her. I'm so pleased everyone including the animals are all safe and sound. Hopefully the water recedes quickly and life can start returning to normal!
    Take Care

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  12. That is a lot of rain in a short amount of time. I hope there is no damage to any of your property. I just love seeing your Dad with his trees in the last post. I'm glad you could visit with him a bit. Take care.

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  13. oooh ouch Wilma did make her presence known. Hope not too much of a clean up for you.

    Love Leanne

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  14. I am so sorry to hear you and your fellow country men are having to deal with the flooding. Hope it all goes down quickly.

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