Photos show brutal contrast across Australia as BoM predicts a wet winter for millions
About 32,000 people on the NSW mid-north coast remain isolated by flood waters, according to the State Emergency Service. Thousands households are beginning the major clean up effort as floodwaters begin to recede after the deluge this past week.
Five months worth of rain was dumped in a matter of days in some areas with crews still assessing the extent of the damage on Sunday.
Taree resident Damian Newell says his rental home now resembles a rubbish dump. And because of the "ridiculous" cost of home and contents insurance, much of their belongings are now gone.
Some 600 kilometres away in the southwest of the state, it's a different story. But perhaps an equally painful one.
Farmer Paul Manwaring has been living in the shadow of rain, watching promising forecasts disappear, while the occasional shower creates patches of growth on the parched plains around Cootamundra, a seven hour drive from flood zones.
"It's all green where a storm went through, but 200 metres down the road it's desolate," Mr Manwaring told AAP over the weekend.
The region is in the grips of disaster, according to the NSW drought indicator, part of a large area lit up in orange on the map. Surrounding regions are also drying out, expected to slip into drought by mid-winter.
Parts of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have endured their driest start to a year on record.
April rainfall has been well below average across much of the three states, as well as southern NSW, and the west coast and interior of WA, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's drought statement.
Tasmania recorded its driest April in a decade, with falls 50 per cent below the 40-year average for the month.
South Australia has also been hit particularly hard, with $2 billion wiped from the state's economy after the worst harvest in 15 years.
Cassie Oster, whose family runs a grazing and cropping operation at Jabuk, about 150km southeast of Adelaide, says producers are always prepared for dry conditions, but this drought is particularly brutal.
"We are at a point where we're like ... this is really scary," she told AAP.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology's long-range forecasts updated this week, the climate outlook for June through to September will see southeast parts of the country experience higher than average rainfall, including areas that have been lashed by floods.
"Rainfall is likely to be above average for much of inland Australia and some southern and eastern parts ... including the Northern Rivers region of NSW," the BoM said, meaning farmers like Paul Manwaring in Cootamundra could enjoy a slight reprieve.
Rainfall is expected to be within the typical range for June to August for much of western WA and eastern Australia, and across the tropical north, according to the Bureau's outlook.
But the bad news will likely continue for drought affected areas in the south with a 60 to 80 per cent chance southern Victoria will experience below average rainfall in the months ahead.
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