God's Frozen People

For many years I have dreamt of going to Antarctica. I don't need to go there anymore, because today Antarctica came to us. For the past few days we had been warned that a meteorological apocalypse was heading our way and last night it arrived with a vengeance.

The onslaught began soon after nightfall. The temperature plummeted, the wind increased to hurricane force and the rain started. It would however be rather inaccurate to call it rain as it was more like a sustained cloudburst of Biblical proportions.

With the freezing conditions making our house more like an igloo, we decided that the only way we could stay warm was to grab the dog and our books and head straight to bed. For the next ten hours we lay in the bed hearing the deafening roar of rain on the iron roof. I could not remember any other time in my memory where the rain had fallen unabated for such a long time. I began to be thankful that our bedroom was on the second floor as I expected that the level of water in the nearby Bass Strait would have risen considerably overnight.

From time to time the steady roar of the rain was punctuated by even heavier bursts of rain. It did make sleeping somewhat difficult and we looked forward to the arrival of sunrise, however when the daylight did arrive, it only served to reveal a very desolate scene. The rain was still pouring steadily and the wind blowing viciously. There would be no bicycle riding today, that's for sure.

Today's downpour follows a succession of very wet months for Victoria. According to the record keepers we have already received much more rain in the first four months of 2020 than we received in the entire 2019 year. April was apparently the wettest month for about 60 years.

With all this water cascading from the skies, you might be excused for thinking that Melbourne's dams would all be filled to overflowing. After all, the water has to go somewhere. Well you have another think coming. According to the Melbourne Water web site, the total amount of water in our storages actually fell from 61% to 60% over the last four weeks. If we cannot even save any water in the wettest month for 60 years, then I guess we really must be in trouble. Or perhaps someone left the plug out of the dam ?

Apart from a couple of short respites, the rain continued most of the day. I spent most of the day sitting on the sofa with my kindle, but also took some time to practise with my locks. It was that sort of day.Read more