[Russt]

G'day all,

we have some of the wildest weather I have seen for a long time...........the rain and wind is awesome.......flash floods every where, trees down and more still to come. The big news is one of the many coal ship off our coast has run aground on nobby's beach newcastle.......... http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200706/...?newcastle

there is talk of more ships in trouble as well......the big worry is the environment with the talk of a possible oil spill

not looking good for our long weekend off!!

[Pat]

We travelled into Newcastle today and ran into a torrent, haven't seen rain like it for yonks! the paddocks on properties from the bay into newcastle completely under water and coming home was dangerous, twas dark and we ran into hail, was pleasantly surprised as all drivers slowed down to 40kms and kept a good distance between cars , no idiots around.

[Russt]

hi Pat, you did well to get through to the bay from newcastle............just getting around the suburbs is a mission. my wife just got home 1 hour late from work.......... cars stuck all over the place.

my garage is flooded through I am lucky so far!

[Banded Drake]

I am sorry that yall are having flooding , i can only imagine how hard that would be . Be careful.


....... Shawn

[Irma]

I am sorry about all this... I hope you have better weather very soon.

Take care.

[NT73]

Likewise guys & gals. Take care.

[Russt]

Thanks for the concern guys, appreciate it! The storm became a lot worse after my post but we were lucky apart from some inconvenience..........my thoughts go out to those who were not so lucky!!!

We have not long got the power back on after being without it for about 18hrs..........wow you miss it.

I woke up about 4.30am and could not get back to sleep so I went for a drive into Newcastle to check out the ship. It was a surreal feeling driving, all the streets blacked out. Cars left where they had become stranded, half on the road half in the gutter. Branches, trees and tin littered the streets. There were power lines down…….mannn it was an eerie drive.
The ship on the beach was some thing to see!!!! I was surprised to see that there were quite a few other people already in there……… we were lucky to get right down on the beach. As the crowds gathered the police then kept everyone off! By the time I left the traffic was jamming the road into the beach.

What also struck me was how events like this brought everyone together and everyone talked to each other and had stories to share………if it was any other day we would have just passed in the street with maybe just a nod.

Any way it’s been a day and I just had to share oh and I do have some pics when I get the chance.

this is a quick one from around my suburb

[Pat]

7 dead, 2 missing, flooding not seen for over 30 years - evacuation of residents in flood prone areas of the Hunter. Russ may not be able to post for a time as no power in the area in which he lives. We were without power for 6 hours last night however live on the outskirts of the Hunter - even so, our local streets strewn with branches and the bus stop shelter down the street demolished. Too dangerous to drive around and photograph the damage.

[Russt]

hi Pat, we have the power on now and came through ok! I hope all is well your end...........

the news has been tragic right around our region and the central coast.........(lost for words)