Rainy season makes return

AT long last the Far North appears to be returning to a traditional wet season.

We had a touch of a ‘wet’ earlier in the year but this time it seems to be the real deal after missing out over the past few seasons.

So it means constant rainfall day and night for days at a time, heavy at times and it cools everything down.

The change has meant a break from the heatwave conditions we experienced earlier this month and now being endured in southern states.

The joys of the wet season include our lawns and gardens flourishing, our rivers and creeks being flushed and flowing magnificently, our waterfalls roaring and our dams being filled.

For our farmers it will be a blessing or curse, depending on what crops are being grown or harvested.

We can only hope that the rainfall on the coast spreads further west to the dry outback regions where graziers desperately need water to fill dams and provide grass growth in the paddocks.

Throughout the Cairns region extra care needs to be taken on our roads, especially on our winding and slippery range highways and the roundabouts.

Parents need to warn their children, and we should all be reminded, to stay away from fastmoving waterways and drains that can cause entrapments.

Tourists and visitors can now see the rainforests and our variety of waterfalls at their best and often the Reef is well out of the path of the heavy rain which affects the coast.

The rainy season is a glorious part of living in the tropics and most will welcome the return of the ‘wet’.