Flood waters inundated the Western Australian town of Carnarvon after a year'sworth of rain poured down in less than 60 hours.The rain began falling on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. local time, or 3:30 a.m. EST.
From that time to Saturday at 1:30 a.m. local time, the rain kept falling andamounted to 230.6 mm (9.08 inches). Since then additional showers have broughtthe total rainfall to 240.0 mm (9.45 inches) with more expected over the next24 hours.
That rainfall exceeds the 8.87 inches Carnarvon averages for an entire year. Infact, the town averages a mere 0.07 of an inch in December.
The rain from late Wednesday to early Saturday is more than unusual, it ishistoric.
The 4.65 inches that fell alone on Thursday broke the town's all-time dailyrainfall record. The previous record was 4.04 inches from July 13, 1998,according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Prior to Thursday, the most rain to fall on any December day was the 3.03inches that poured down on Dec. 13, 1995.
Not surprisingly, ABC News reports that residents are now dealing with floodedhomes and businesses. Many roadways have been closed and people have beenevacuated from their homes.
The red dot indicates the location of Carnarvon, Australia.
