The weekend weather saw a driver in Murrumburrah run into trouble when their car left the causeway on the Murrimboola Creek. The driver, who was behind the wheel of a Western Australia plated 4WD, attempted to cross the mildly flooded causeway around 4pm on Monday afternoon. He overestimated the width of the narrow passage, and found his vehicle partially submerged, with one side of the car managing to remain on the road. He was soon ably assisted by Parker’s Smash Repairs of Harden, who pulled the vehicle to safety, with no injuries recorded.
Farmers in the area battled to save their crops and fruit from the deluge with around 80mm of rain falling over Harden on the weekend, with rain continuing to fall on parts of the township earlier this week. The rain couldn’t have come at a worse time for the region’s cherry farmers, with the downpour putting the breaks on harvest for some orchards, and threatening the quality of the crop for others. Rain, as seen in the quantities the region has experienced over the last week, can soften and split cherries, making them unsellable. Producers in the Orange area have taken drastic measures in order to maintain the quality of the product, using tractor-mounted air blowers or even helicopters to dry the crop.The news has caused heartbreak amongst cherry producers, with this season originally forecast to be a bumper, with predicted figures hovering around 16,000 tonnes, which would have been a record.
Growers in Young, Australia’s self titled cherry capital, were only able to pick less than half their crop before the deluge began. The industry is continuing to assess the losses suffered as a result of the weather, but any substantial losses could see price increases as we head towards the festive season. Farmers in Harden have expressed their dismay at the timing and quantity of the rain, saying it could lead to a shortage of wheat this season. The Bureau of Meteorology gave producers plenty of notice of the incoming storm, but it was simply a matter of hours in the day, when it came to getting their crop off the paddock. There are hopes that the cooler, dry weather that followed the rainfall may help the grain dry out, without a drastic loss of quality, although any further rainfall could prove detrimental.
