A bit of rain around Oberon

April 11, 2024

A big and nasty weather system arrived in NSW from the northeast on Friday, April 5, causing a lot of flooding and damage in areas around Sydney and along the coast. Possibly protected by the Blue Mountains Oberon got off lightly, with only the usual road closures that follow deluges.

Oberon Matters drove around the next morning looking at the creek and river crossings that can cause the most inconvenience. Hazlegrove Road between Oberon and Tarana was cut at the Fish River, and the collection of debris means that the road won't be open as soon as the water subsides because the rubbish will have to be cleared away. The closure didn't isolate either town as it was still possible to travel between them via Lowes Mount Road.

The Fish River over Hazlegrove Road. With a lot of debris.

Another road which gets cut regularly is Sewells Creek Road between Oberon and Rockley. Of the two creek crossings at the Oberon end only Native Dog Creek was over the causeway, but with only about 10 centimetres of water it was safe to cross provided it was done slowly and carefully. In any case, it is never advisable to drive into water unless the depth can be reasonably calculated. Where Brisbane Valley Creek goes across Sewells Creek and Foleys Creek Roads there was no water on the road (but a little more rain could have changed that).

Native Dog Creek across Sewells Creek Road (photo taken from the Rockley side).

There was some flooding on other roads but the only people affected were residents who lived in the wrong side. An example was the 300 centimetres of water where Native Dog Creek crosses Chain of Ponds Road, but it was possible to get out by using Burrabinya and Knights Roads to get to Black Springs (as Oberon Matters found when arriving at the flooded crossing from the Essington Forest side).

A useful gauge of the amount of water falling on the Oberon township itself is the creek that usually runs in a pipe under Richards Park. The creek drains a very large part of Oberon, and comes to the surface after any heavy rainfall.

Richards Park with the creek underground.

The creek on the surface after a recent storm.

During the night the sound of water rushing across the park was very noticeable to nearby residents (who were definitely not going out in the heavy rain and dark to take photos), but the photo below shows the area of flattened grass the next day which was about 50% wider than after the river in the photo above.

The grass after the water went away.

There were some adjustments to sporting events, but generally Oberon wasn't badly affected. Scenes on the TV news of flooding in some Sydney suburbs showed how lucky we were here.

Parramatta ferry wharf. ABC photo

Petersham in Sydney's inner west. Photo by Peter Wicks on Xitter

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