Heavy rain has broken records at Broken Hill and at many outback stations hanging out for rain in the NSW Far West.
The big storm late on Tuesday that included 86,000 lightning strikes, turned deadly with one man drowned as he reportedly attempted to help friends stuck in a flashflood on a road east of Broken Hill.
Police said the man died after his vehicle entered floodwaters.
"Just after 10.30pm (Tuesday 15 March 2022), emergency services were called to Menindee Road, 35km east of Broken Hill, following reports of a vehicle in floodwaters," Barrier police said.
"Police have been told a 56-year-old man drove into the floodwater and exited his Toyota Landcruiser utility, before being sucked into a concrete pipe and stuck due to the force of the flood water.
"Following inquiries, officers attached to Barrier Police District with the assistance of the SES, located the body of the man in flood water. He could not be revived.
"A crime scene was established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. A report will now be prepared for the information of the Coroner."
Meantime, many stations have had their best rain in over four years, after they missed rain event after rain event in the last few years.
Around Broken Hill there were reports of anything from 40mm to 100mm on some stations desperate for rain. The Broken Hill area was one of the only places in the state that has missed out on decent rain since the drought broke almost three years ago.
Lachlan Gall, Langawirra station said athough he had just 15.6mm at Langawirra, the run off was the best "for some time".
"Joes Hole Creek is running properly into Langawirra for the first time this summer, and it's the biggest creek for quite some time. There was 109mm in a remote rain gauge on the Barrier Ranges in the top of the catchment 50kms west of here," Mr Gall said.
There was mayhem in the city of Broken Hill, with main streets turning into floodways, cars floating down the street and shops and houses copping flooding.
Weatherzone said the official gauge at Broken Hill recorded 72mm in six hours, which was more than its entire summer average. There was another unofficial gauge, that recorded 85mm of rain an hour, with 111mm. "That does look believable, that's a huge amount of rain," a Weatherzone meteorologist said. It was the wettest day in 10 years.
"For March it was the wettest March day since 2010, the third wettest on record."
Many unofficial gauges put the rainfall at over 140mm, the wettest day since June, 1989.
There were massive amounts of lightning strikes in a huge arc around Broken Hill. The lightning count within 100kms of Broken Hill was 86,000 strikes. "There was lightning over the entire area."
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John Ellicott
journalist and author
journalist and author
