Hailstorm

There was a warning from the Bureau of Meteorology for damaging winds, large hailstones and rain but I never pay too much attention because nothing much ever comes of it...till today that is.

Michael and Luke rang from town to say their cricket match had been interrupted by hailstones as big as golf balls. I replied that the sun was still shining at home (20km) away and that we would probably miss it.

Ten minutes later, there was a noise like an approaching truck or train and the Kangaroos started streaking across the paddock away from it. I couldn't see what it was till I saw one huge hailstone fall into the paddock about 100m away.

And that was the beginning of the scariest hailstorm I've ever experienced! Some of the hailstones were as big as baseballs and were landing with a huge thump on the ground. We were lucky. No major damage although I'm sure the roof is dented and I have yet to check the water tank. The sheep all seem fine too - I was concerned about broken bones. People in the area have lost roofs and had windows smashed. The cotton which was 1 week away from picking has been stripped so I'm thinking the community will have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Hopefully we got enough rain out of it to add to the muddy puddle in the bottom of the dam on our place. Time will tell.