IT'S what everyone has been praying for ... steady rain falling on thirsty gardens and paddocks, filling near empty dams and household water tanks.
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And coming as it does, after recent fires and the early declaration of the bushfire permit period, you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief around the Valley.
Deputy regional SES controller Michael Stubbs told the Guardian yesterday that so far the Nambucca Valley had escaped the heavier downpours that the Bellinger and Orara River flood watches had seen.
“We’ve had no jobs in the Nambucca at all, which is terrific,” Michael said.
“No call-outs, no flood watches or warnings ... just good rain.”
He did however repeat warnings to drivers not to venture into flooded causeways or flood waters and to take care around storm water drains.
“Wherever storm water gathers, it can be dangerous - there can be hidden branches or logs that create a hazard. Parents need to monitor their kids, tempting as it is to play in flood waters.”
A quick phone around the shire yesterday morning had the area near Macksville Industrial Estate topping the rain gauge with 131mm, then Gumma with 119mm, Utungan residents recorded 112mm, Nambucca Heads 98mm, Newee Creek 96mm, Valla Rural 93mm and Bowraville 89mm.
Up the Pacific Highway at Urunga, restoration work on the Newry Island Bridge has been ‘challenged’.
Yesterday’s Bellingen Shire Council update of the project said apart from the weather, the presence of roosting microbats, a listed threatened species, had added an unexpected legislative layer.
Working with local ecologists and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the council is installing nest boxes away from the construction site to offer alternative roosting opportunities.
Existing bridge materials have been used where possible to maintain the desirability of the boxes for the microbats.
At this stage, it is expected the bridge will re-open at 6am on Sunday.