state of instability
Hillville NSW Nov 2019 Kundle/Moto RFS battle to save a farm
Eugowra NSW Jan 2020 A weak tornado created by a supercell storm in drought ravaged Lachlan river area. The region will suffer one of the worst flash floods in NSW history less than 3 years later.
Menindee Jan 2019 A kangaroo stranded in drying mud in the centre of Lake Cawndilla. I was unable to reach the animal , the image was taken by drone. Animal rescue services were forced to euthanise it and many more stuck as the Menindee lakes dried.
Orangeville , Sydney , Dec 2019 An explosion of fire complete with fire vorticy on the left as fire crews battled the Green Wattle Creek fire as it entered south western Sydney
Balranald NSW August 2018 Sheep run across desolate field looking like desert.
Hillsville NSW Nov 2019 RFS smothered in choking smoke
Orangeville , Sydney , Dec 2019 NSW Fire and Rescue take cover as the the Green Wattle Creek explodes from the forests as it entered south western Sydney
Orangeville , Sydney , Dec 2019 Resident watches helicopters while the Green Wattle Creek fire rages behind his home.
Orange NSW Jan 2020 Severe storms during the drought brought walls of dust ahead of any brief ran they delivered
Werombi , Sydney Dec 2019 Heavy water bombing jets attack the Green Wattle Creek fire
Bilpin , NSW Dec 2019 An attempted large scale backburn to hold the Gospers Mountain Fire escaped control and threatened all of the villages along the Bells Line Of Road
Lake Burrendong , NSW Sept 2019 Long covered by water , old farmyards emerge from the floor of Lake Burrendong in the Central West. The dam was at 2%
Balranald NSW 2018 Farm work goes on during dust storms.
Bilpin , NSW Dec 2019 An attempted large scale backburn to hold the Gospers Mountain Fire escaped control and threatened all of the villages along the Bells Line Of Road
Forbes NSW Sept 2019 A horse on a lonely desolate field in what should be some of Australia's most productive land.
Penrose Jan 2020 RFS members cooldown the area around a home which caught fire after the main blaze of the Currowan Fire passed.
Orange NSW Jan 2020 Severe storms during the drought brought walls of dust ahead of any brief ran they delivered
Hillville NSW Nov 2019 burning remains of homes in the Hillville area
Currarong Dec 31 2019 The gargantuan Currowan fire pushed relentlessly east. Emergency warnings tell residents and holiday makers to head to the beach for safety "It is too late to leave"
Failford NSW Nov 2019 fire , creeping slowly at night but was unchecked by the few firefighting units available. Hillville Fire
Gooloogong NSW Jan 2020 Dust storms sweep the plains. less than 3 years later this area will be under a metre of water for over a month.
Bilpin , NSW Dec 2019 An attempted large scale backburn to hold the Gospers Mountain Fire escaped control and threatened all of the villages along the Bells Line Of Road
Bilpin , NSW Dec 2019 An attempted large scale backburn to hold the Gospers Mountain Fire escaped control and threatened all of the villages along the Bells Line Of Road
Menindee , jan 2019 Fish lie dead after the few ponds and billabongs which still had water in them became deoxygenated
Cassilis Jan 2017 The huge Sir Ivans Fire was producing lightning and started this grass fire ahead of the main blaze. farmers gather to fight
Cassilis NSW Feb 2018 A farmer tends to his horses on desertlike hills which are normally green with grass.
Wyangala Dam 15 Nov 2022 Hundreds of thousands of megalitres are released from Wyangala Dam after record flash flooding events near and in its catchment. This was one of several huge unavoidable releases over a couple of months which led to multiple major flood events along the Lachlan River. Towns such as Cowra , Forbes and Condoblin were effected.
Forbes Nov 2022 Friends and family of Dick Sharkey bail and sandbag his home in a long but ultimately lost battle to stop inundation
South of Forbes , Oct 2022 Trucks cross an inland sea . The Newell Hwy briefly opened for escorted trucks and high clearance traffic between flooding events.
Forbes , Nov 2022 Les is exhausted. Friends and family of Dick Sharkey bail and sandbag his home in a long but ultimately lost battle to stop inundation from the slowly rising Lachlan River.
Griffith , Oct 2022 Storm chaser Brad Hannon photographs the flooded landscape with a beautiful shelf cloud passing through. This was one of several systems lined up week after week that caused the major flood disaster of Oct/Nov 2022
Lower Portland , Sydney March 2021 Jetboat pilot and caravan park manager Wayne Smith searches for washed away caravans kilometers downstream from his property on the Hawkesbury River
Cunnamulla QLD Jan 2022 Local Cunnamulla boys enjoy the full Warrego River after years of drought.
Forbes NSW Nov 2022 A high clearance RFS truck moves through the flooded streets of Forbes at dawn.
Warriewood , Sydney March 2022 High School teens wade through flooded streets after torrential rain for several hours created havoc along the Sydney Northern Beaches.
Forbes Nov 2022 Forbes volunteers fill sandbags while rescue and recon helicopters lift from the SES base.
Riverstone , Sydney Oct 2021 A dangerous supercell storm which ploughed through the Sydney north west prompted an extremely rare tornado warning due to the very high dewpoints( allowing the storm to reach the surface) and strong wind shear (required to rotate the storm and create a tornado)
Macquarie Marshes NSW Oct 2022 Thousands of Ibis , Herons , Egrets , Ducks and other waterbird species had a spectacular breeding event in one of Australia's most important wetlands. The Macquarie River has sent several flood pulses due to 3 consecutive La Nina.
Forbes Oct 2022 Young Tom Robb drags a stick in the water as his father and neighbour negotiate the floded landscape to get supplies.
Bourke Oct 2021 Hailstones measuring 11.5cm collected from the roadside after a powerful supercell storm cut a swath across the land north of the NSW outback town.
Forbes Nov 2022 Peter and Robin Walsh abandon their home as floodwaters rise rapidly. Peter , upset at "all the panic" carries his dog.
Cunnamulla QLD Jan 2022 Corellas flock in the hot afternoon as storms form west of town.
Forbes Nov 2022 Friends and family of the Sharkeys watch the floodwaters penetrate their defenses.
Forbes Nov 2022 Maxine Nolan and Kiarni Hill grabbed their three cats and had to use a railway embankment to escape the flooding around their home.
Windsor , Sydney March 2021 SES crews rescue a couple and their pets from an inundated home as the Hawkesbury River reached heights not seen in decades.
Macquarie Marshes Oct 2022 Millions of mosquitoes and moths fill the air at the Macquarie Marshes. Innoculations against mosquito borne virus was made available in flood impacted areas.
Lower Portland , Sydney March 2021 A resident of a caravan park takes refuge on the top of a building poking out of floodwaters along the Hawkesbury.
North Forbes Nov 2022 A high clearance 4WD makes a wake through the flooded Newell Hwy. Business owners were allowed to check on their premises if the had approved transport.
Cowra Nov 2022 The largest ever flood release from a NSW dam resulted in extreme flash flooding along the Lachlan River. A drowned sheep in the centre of Cowra a few hours after the waters subsided.
Goolgowi NSW Oct 2022 A long squall line which reached from well into Victoria and up into QLD brought torrential rains across western NSW.
Wisemans Ferry , Sydney March 2021 Mud clean up after the water subsides is a tiresome and messy job.
Bourke Oct 2021 Hailstones measuring 11.5cm collected from the roadside after a powerful supercell storm cut a swath across the land north of the NSW outback town.
Condoblin NSW Nov 2022 A school of fish in the streets of Condoblin. The massively swollen Lachlan spilled kilometres from the river but the "Great Wall of Condo" (pictured) saved the town from inundation
Condoblin NSW Nov 2022 Flooded netball courts to the south of the town.
Narrabeen NSW March 2022 A local wades through the flash flooding and torrential rain to block a road. Intense rain from "training" storms (like a train , each storm cell runs over the same place) quickly overwhelmed the beachside suburb.
Condoblin NSW Nov 2022 A painted car , part of a sculpture , sits in flood waters south of the Lachlan RIver.
Bogan Gate NSW Nov 2022 Flash flooding tore the embankments under the rail link between Parkes and Condoblin in several places.
Boort VIC Jan 2022 A fast moving gust front raises dust from a ploughed field.
South east Australia entered a withering drought in 2017. Dust blew across empty fields and into every pore , any seal , so that each day tasted red and gritty. Regions close to the coast became deserts and the forests became firestorms. The atmosphere burned with each pyrocumulonimbus. Like a pendulum pushed to its furthest , the weather ticked off records in temperatures and minimum rainfalls every month. Then in early 2020 as the “Black Summer” fires peaked and then eased the pendulum rocked back. Three years later we have had record rainfalls , tornadoes , brutal hail and flash flooding. The inland rivers are seas and town along them face months of flooding.
This is a visual record of the people and towns which have endured these events.