Wet, wet, wet: Sydney due for a drenching (click here)
GEORGINA ROBINSON
December 24, 2009 - 1:34PMThe big wet is on its way but Sydneysiders should have time for the Christmas lunch al fresco, with rain not predicted to hit the city until tomorrow afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology has put much of central and north western NSW on flood watch as the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Laurence, by now a low pressure system, track east across the continent.
The system is expected to dump more than 200 millimetres on those parts, with the Castlereagh, Bogan, Lower Namoi, Lower Macquarie, Barwon, Paroo and Warrego Rivers all expected to flood between Boxing Day and Monday.
But the rain is not expected to hit the Sydney area until tomorrow afternoon, leaving time for a morning swim, lunch outside and an afternoon nap before the clouds open up.
"[Sydney] can expect extensive rainfall from Christmas Day afternoon to at least the 29th," Weatherzone forecaster Alex Krisman said...
Cyclone Laurence leaves a trail of damage in the Pilbara (click here)
TREES were torn from the ground and buildings were badly damaged as tropical cyclone Laurence roared through parts of Western Australia's Pilbara coast.
Karina Turner, whose father owns the Sandfire Roadhouse, 30 kilometres south of Eighty Mile Beach, said on Tuesday the ferocity and noise of the cyclone was frightening as its 250km/h winds lashed the roadhouse and surrounding buildings.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the category-five storm had crossed the coast about 5pm (WA time) on Monday about 1800 kilometres north-east of Perth, with wind gusts of up to 285km/h and almost 250 millimetres of rain.
The WA Fire and Emergency Services Authority said no one appeared to have been injured but several buildings were damaged in small communities.
Phone connections to most of the stricken centres were down yesterday and power has been disrupted in the Pilbara.
Ms Turner said she and her family were forced to take shelter about three hours before they felt the full brunt of Laurence shortly after 6pm.
She said the noise was deafening as rain battered the house and trees and bits of roofing iron were blown around.
''The first part of the cyclone was definitely the worst when it was coming from the east about 6.30,'' Ms Turner said.
''Water was coming in and you could hear tin rattling in the wind and see trees falling down and stuff going everywhere.''...
