The storms continued to around 11:00pm with some more hail delivered by mother nature. The thunder was loud and one particular clap made us both jump. Every time we thought it was over, it started again. The weather was most unusual for this part of Australia.
It was overcast when we stuck our heads out of the door. The ground close to the van no longer was inches deep but the access roads to our site were covered with water.
We heard that the “weather incident” had made some overseas newspapers.
With the rain stopped, we finally had the opportunity to look at the van. “He” opened our main vent and was able to clear some of the debris off the roof and confirm that all of our hatches and the solar panel were undamaged. “He” could not see the roof at the front of the van but suspects there will be damage. Inspection of the exterior of the van revealed that the side that was recently repaired appeared undamaged but the side where the entry door is has sustained damage on the full length. There is also damage to the front of the van. We are facing a repeat from last year.
“He” called our insurance company and lodged a claim. The insurer knew about Alice Springs and did not ask for any specific details. We were not the first to call!
We drove into Alice Springs and were amazed to see what mother nature had delivered. Trees had been uprooted and thick branches broken off like they were matchsticks. Most of the CBD was covered in debris. There was still ice on the ground in several places. For the second time in as many weeks, the Todd River was running.
There was damage to numerous commercial outlets including Kmart, Target and Coles. Many businesses were closed due to flooding. We were in a disaster zone but life was continuing as normal. We were told by a worker in Target that it had been 30 years since Alice Springs had experiences mother nature like this. We believe that no one was injured as a result of the storm based on the damaged we have seen.
We returned to the caravan park for lunch (we actually were able to purchase a seafood salad from Woolworths at $3.00 per kilo ($13.99 off) so lunch cost us $1.58. We also baked a loaf of bread which exceeded our expectation when cooked.
As “She” was having a birthday, we had arranged with a local club for their courtesy bus to collect us and deliver us to the club for dinner. So at 5:45pm we headed to the Gillen Club where we all enjoyed an evening meal accompanied by several drinks.
After we returned to the caravan park, our friends had organised a birthday cake which we all enjoyed with a couple of bottles of port.
I think that everyone slept well, we certainly did!