Eastern Australia Continues to be Pounded by Heavy Rains

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Eastern Australia continues to be pounded by heavy rains today. It's hit area farmers hard, who stand to loose millions of dollars in wheat profits, with their fields flooded. And more rain is scheduled for days to come.

It's the wettest spring ever recorded for the eastern states of Australia and there's at least another week of rain to come.

Thousands of people have been isolated across the state.

At least six shires were also declared natural disaster areas by the state's premier.

The wheat harvest is bogged down and farmers are concerned about the crop's quality, while still being unable to get harvesting equipment onto the flooded fields.

In the town of Coonamble, farmers are facing millions of dollars of losses.

[Ken Waterfode, Farmer]:
"This is probably best crop we ever grown, you know we've waited years for getting a crop like this."

The bureau says the September to November period averaged about 6-1/2 inches of rain, nearly an inch more than the previous record.

After enduring years of drought, the rains brought bumper crops, but now the harvesting equipment sits sadly idle unable to start work in the soggy fields.

[Ken Waterfode, Farmer]:
"Happiness would be a mortgage buster, you know, we've never seen a crop like it."

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting more rain through Friday.