Drought, wildfires and now flooding have given Australia's weather an almost Biblical feel this year.
Quentin Grafton, an economics professor and water expert at
Australian National University in Canberra, said the rain had broken the drought in some towns but had not fallen evenly across all the affected areas.
“At this stage, it's very good news, and certainly much more than people could have wished for or expected,” he said of the rainfall.