Rain. Also, more rain.
It seems like the only time I ever post here is when we have a massive rain event in Auckland. Of course, that's not all that rare. The current atmospheric river is the third major flooding event in Auckland this year.
This is not business as usual. In fact, it's the first major flooding we've had for decades.
And it's not just flooding, either. After a couple of years of drought during which we were all worrying about the water catchment lakes getting too low, the rain started last winter and basically it hasn't stopped. It rained all winter, and I mean all winter (every day in August). It rained all spring. It rained all summer, and in fact it felt like we didn't have a summer at all. We had a couple of sunny weeks in March, but guess what? It's raining again.
I thought we were going to get away with this one as although the atmospheric river has been hanging around all week, the rain hasn't been heavy. But it was saving the best till last. The rain absolutely torrented down yesterday, with more than 90mm (3.5 inches) of rain over the day and most of that falling over a couple of hours. So yet again I was outside for several hours bailing water into buckets to stop the water that was spilling out of the gutters from flowing underneath the house and eroding the earth around the concrete piles. Which what with the mud and the wind and the heavy heavy rain and the heavy heavy buckets was exactly as much fun as you would imagine.
And really, I shouldn't be whining at all, because despite all that I was so much more fortunate than many people. The heaviest rain was forecast for 5-7 pm and most companies sent people home in advance of that, resulting in absolute gridlock on the flooded roads and motorways. And hundreds of houses have had yet more flood damage.
I know what's causing this. But I don't have to like it. And I don't.
This is not business as usual. In fact, it's the first major flooding we've had for decades.
And it's not just flooding, either. After a couple of years of drought during which we were all worrying about the water catchment lakes getting too low, the rain started last winter and basically it hasn't stopped. It rained all winter, and I mean all winter (every day in August). It rained all spring. It rained all summer, and in fact it felt like we didn't have a summer at all. We had a couple of sunny weeks in March, but guess what? It's raining again.
I thought we were going to get away with this one as although the atmospheric river has been hanging around all week, the rain hasn't been heavy. But it was saving the best till last. The rain absolutely torrented down yesterday, with more than 90mm (3.5 inches) of rain over the day and most of that falling over a couple of hours. So yet again I was outside for several hours bailing water into buckets to stop the water that was spilling out of the gutters from flowing underneath the house and eroding the earth around the concrete piles. Which what with the mud and the wind and the heavy heavy rain and the heavy heavy buckets was exactly as much fun as you would imagine.
And really, I shouldn't be whining at all, because despite all that I was so much more fortunate than many people. The heaviest rain was forecast for 5-7 pm and most companies sent people home in advance of that, resulting in absolute gridlock on the flooded roads and motorways. And hundreds of houses have had yet more flood damage.
I know what's causing this. But I don't have to like it. And I don't.