Big downpour hits Donnybrook (pics)

The flooded Preston River in Donnybrook has now returned to its normal level after the town was hit with more than 120mm of rain in little more than a day last week.

Pics from last Friday's downpour

The rain, which mostly came on Thursday evening and Friday morning, caused no damage to homes but breached the banks of the river and flooded the town’s amphitheatre and concert shell.

The river was 4.5m deep on Friday but had decreased at the weekend. Department of Water officers used the opportunity to conduct depth and volume tests on the river.

Donnybrook-Balingup shire president Steve Dilley said the river had subsided and returned to its natural level on Saturday morning.

Two bridges, on Argyle Road and Bendall Road, were closed on Friday because of the flood, but had been reopened.

Mr Dilley said a ute had to abandoned after the driver tried to cross a flooded road on a farm near Brookhampton Hall.

He said this was a good reminder for people to be careful when driving in flooded areas.

The “number one rule” was to never drive on a flooded road unless the depth of the water was known, he said.

The flood attracted interest from the town’s residents and visitors on Friday and many used phones and cameras to capture it. Donnybrook worker Melinda Grkinic said she was surprised by the flood because it did not happen last year despite consecutive days of heavy rain over a few weeks.

The recent rain has also topped up dams in the South West.

The Water Corporation has reported that dams used to supply drinking water are at about 86 per cent capacity, about 3 per cent higher than at the same time this year.

One of the region’s biggest dams, Wellington Dam, is also expected to overflow as early as this week.

The dam holds 185 billion litres of water and was 97 per cent full on Friday.

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