Flash flood

Yesterday a river ran through my garden. When we first moved here 36 years ago, there were only a few houses on the hillside behind us and mountain streams meandered seaward all along the road, one of them keeping the verge at the top of the property bog-like, where only restios grew. Good winter rains would bring a flood gushing down the side roads and downhill through the garden, and we often had brief moments when all the topsoil and compost I had invested in would simply be swept away into the neighbouring plot, leaving me with infertile beach sand to start all over again. One year the flooding was so bad the council dug a trench to divert the water.
However, a huge gum tree nearby has sucked up all the water over the years and trebled in size, while the surrounding area has almost become a desert and the restios have died off. Development of the vacant plots has diverted the water courses and changing weather patterns have reduced the rainfall. Until yesterday. A late afternoon cloudburst filled us with excitement at the prospect of relief from the drought and trepidation at the thought of all our tanks overflowing, as we haven't been able to use much of the 8000 litres currently stored! We soon noticed a rivulet flowing down the garden, then looked out of the window towards the road. The entire front area was under water and it was being dammed up against the garage doors - I rushed downstairs to open the side gate and it was like opening a floodgate on a dam wall. Within minutes the back garden was a torrent heading for the neighbour's plot again, but this time we had put up a wooden fence with tiny gaps and the water had nowhere to go except upwards. It spread across the lawn, pushing a line of leaves, sticks and general debris before it, while we rushed around taking videos in chaotic excitement. Funny how something out of the ordinary can galvanise us into frantic action.
In 15 minutes it was all over - 17mm of rain and no need to water the garden for a while. It will take a good day in the garden to clean up the mess, and large sections of soil have again been washed away, but this time it is still inside the property and can be returned to the flowerbeds. The water table rose by a good 15cm and the cloud made off for the catchment area on the other side of False Bay. The garage only flooded a little due to my gate opening strategy, and today was the most beautiful sunny autumn day to dry up the residue. But we will still have to dig a trench.

Driveway replaced by a river and bricked area now a dam

You can see the waterline on the gate that eventually extended right through the garden