On the 17 th of August 1998, the small district of Wollongong was rattled by a severe storm. The intense rainfall that came with the storm was caused by an almost stationary troughline which converged with a low pressure system to form an intense, concentrated area of low pressure. This system gave off rainfall rates of approximately 100mm per hour (the storm took three hours to pass over the area).
Weeks before this incident, mining companies were clearing the escarpment for future developments, which caused loss of vegetation. To add to that, years of funding shortages meant creeks and drains remained blocked. The strong rainfall caused the newly bulldozed land to move causing landslides, mudslides and masses of saturated rock to spread downhill into the town below.
Two people died as a result of the Wollongong storm and thirty-seven other people were injured. Thousands of Wollongong residents and shop owners faced bankruptcy due to damaged property from landslides or floods and coal from disbanded mines was washed away leaving blackened streets and houses behind. About 150 homes were damaged plus 400 more homes that were flooded. The storm also stopped commuters in their tracks including people in the outskirts of Sydney and the Illawarra escarpment.
It took a lot of time and money to repair the damage caused by the Wollongong storm and although the streets were eventually cleaned, people still remember the intense rain and destruction that was the Wollongong storm.
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