Everyone is praying for rain

**forestdale** · 10-11-2005, 08:38 PM

Australia is in the midst of an extremely bad drought. We often have droughts but this one been going on and on and on for years. I think this is the 6th year. Anyhow, farmers have given up all hope and many are just walking away from their homesteads. Fruit and vegie prices are high as a result. It's pretty grim.

BUT ... the weather bureau has forecast rain, starting this afternoon with storms, until Sunday. We really need this. Our capital city has only 35% of its dam water left. Everything is brown and even large trees are beginning to die off. Please keep us in your thoughts and send good vibes our way. Do a rain dance for us or anything else that you think might help.

I'm not sure if the rain will materialise. It's been forecast before and never happens. I've got my fingers crossed. Here is our weather radar. http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR082.loop.shtml

There are some rain clouds off the coast but our rain almost always comes from the west (overland). We live a little inland from Caloundra, just north of Beerwah, where Steve Irwin's Zoo is.

**Kimberlina** · 10-11-2005, 09:22 PM

I'll send some of mine your way, Rhonda. We had so much here the other day there were flood warnings and I was afraid we might get evacuated again.

I will pray, and I will get the little one to do a rain dance for you when she gets back from the store. I'm afraid those clouds don't look to big, even if they were to head your way.

BTW, I love the kite in your box. And totally OT, but what is that little thing next to it? I've been puzzled by that one for days.

**Darlene** · 10-11-2005, 09:26 PM

Hope you get that rain Rhonda. That radar doesn't look too promising. Wish I could send you some of ours, some areas got hammered around us. Doing a rain dance for you, you should see me ~pretty entertaining.

**forestdale** · 10-11-2005, 09:29 PM

Thanks Kimberly. All assistance re rain is gratefully received.

Hmmm, in my awards cabinet I have a bouquet of flowers next to my kite. I don't often look at my awards but I'm always surprised and delighted when I get a new one. Actually the two you pointed out are my favourites. I love having the sky as my limit because often I try to reach that high and I love the flowers because I think that Sara gave them to me.

**forestdale** · 10-11-2005, 09:31 PM

Thanks Darlene. Isn't it incredible how helpless you can feel when there is nothing to be done but wait? I'm extremely impatient, so waiting is never an easy thing for me.

Can you send pictures of your dance?

**psjkmom** · 10-12-2005, 08:54 AM

Rhonda, I've prayed for rain for your area. It's frightening when crops fail year after year.

**Darlene** · 10-12-2005, 09:19 AM

Here's a link to what's going on here in the US on the east coast where they are getting too much rain. Wish you could juyst direct this stuff where ya really need it.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1205700

**PrairieRose** · 10-12-2005, 09:42 AM

I hope you get some rain Rhonda...it's always so amazing to me how very nearly alike our weather patterns are where we live in Texas are with those of Australia. We're in a huge drought right here in our small town area. Everyone all around us has had much more rain than we have this year. Our average rainfall is 14 inches and this year it's been about 1/2 of that. Even as much as 3 miles away is very near normal, but for some reason rain just passes over us. I think we're not living right....

I'm sure that's not your problem though

I wish I could send my youngest dd there to wash cars. It seems that everytime she comes home and washes our car or her own, it rains. Almost never fails. We've threatened to lease her out.......

**Michelle** · 10-12-2005, 11:17 AM

I hope your area gets the rain it so desperately needs, Rhonda

And I wish I could send you some of ours. It's been raining quite heavily since last Friday, and there's no end in sight. As a matter of fact, weather.com is forecasting rain through Sunday. I keep telling myself that at least it's not snow

**forestdale** · 10-12-2005, 03:33 PM

Well, we didn't get any rain.

There were a couple of localised storms in the area, with hail stones the size of oranges, but almost no rain with it. The storms only lasted 5 minutes.

So we are back to hoping again. The weather forecast is for storms this afternoon and rain until sunday

I wonder where I heard that before. I've got my fingers crossed.

Kimberly, Darlene, Lisa, Emily and Michelle I really appreciate you thinking about us. I wish we could syphon off some of that flood water over there to our dry brown land.

**forestdale** · 10-13-2005, 03:05 PM

We got some rain last night.

It started with a small storm around 7pm and rained gently until early this morning. We had another short burst at 3am which woke me up.

The forecast is for more storms tonight and rain until Sunday. The drought will not be broken until we get a cyclone or non-stop heavy rain for a week so that the dams and river fill up again, but this rain was very welcome and hopefully is the start of more rain to come.

**Kimberlina** · 10-13-2005, 04:59 PM

Yay!!!

DD did a little rain dance for you yesterday- I'll bet she did the trick. She was dancing around in a small pile of shredded cheese she dumped on the floor singing "rain, rain, rain, come down, down down" and I added the "For Rhonda" part. It was very cute.

Seriously, I am glad you got some rain. It must be very hard to use a rain barrel when there is no rain.

**forestdale** · 10-13-2005, 05:10 PM

Yay Maggie!! Thankyou. That's some powerful rain dance you've got there, girlie!

**PrairieRose** · 10-13-2005, 05:13 PM

See Rhonda, all I have to do is threaten to send dd#2 to the Land of Oz to wash cars and it rains

**forestdale** · 10-15-2005, 03:27 PM

LOL lisa. You all breed powerful daughters over there.

Good news! It rained all night and it looks like continuing throughout the day. Here is the current weather map.