A NUMBER of local clubs and venues offered lodging to anyone stranded by floodwaters or evacuated from their homes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
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On Tuesday Silos Estate had recorded 299.2mm of rainfall since the low pressure system started dumping on the South Coast on Monday.
“It’s now raining 5.6mm an hour,” owner Raj Ray said on Tuesday.
Mr Ray and his wife Sophie had a number of rooms on standby on Tuesday night but in the end everyone who had contacted them was able to get home.
“If you had a 4WD you could get through Berry Road, so people were carpooling,” Mr Ray said.
“We kept the phones on until midnight in case. So it was good news.
“One sweet couple, they had a dog, and were worried they couldn’t get south. They rang us at Wandandian to say they made it through.”
Mr Ray said perhaps the winery should consider a different line of business.
“Maybe we should start bottling water, not wine,” he said.
On Tuesday night, however, four people who were stranded took up their offer of accommodation.
“We threw it open for one more night offering free accommodation to people who couldn’t get home.
“We’ve been here eight years and we’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
“We’ve had one sixth of our annual rainfall – it’s incredible.”
Also the organiser of the annual Duck Dash on September 20 this year, Mr Ray said the weather was at least ideal for that.
“It’s good weather for ducks,” he said.