When Werries Creek broke its banks and flooded the paddocks at Werris Creek Station, it was a bittersweet moment for John McDowell.
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The flood on the Australia Day weekend left a trail of destruction but grasses are now well on their way to recovering from the ongoing drought.
Mr McDowell said 100mm stranded him and his wife on the property on Friday night and fences were no match for the "hundreds of tonnes" of timber that were swept along the creek.
"The creek broke its banks. It was the highest flow I've ever seen," he said.
He'd been keeping an eye on the radar and moved his sheep and cattle to higher ground ahead of the storm.
Mr McDowell has since secured stock in the yard paddocks and set up a temporary trough.
"Causeways are broken all the way through to the gap so I'm carting water until I can fix the gullies," he said.
"A few of the contours have broken and the water has caused a bit of erosion in areas.
"The rain's fantastic, even though it's caused trouble. At least it gives the grass a chance to germinate and start again, which is what we needed. It was getting pretty desperate. We want to see it green."
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Mr McDowell said the rain came down too quickly to significantly raise the soil moisture profile for cropping but it was "a good start" and he could only hope they get "a lot of follow-up rain".
The farmer said the past few years were "by far been the worst drought experience we've been through".
Only 25 per cent of their cattle remain and they have only cut back their sheep by about 20 per cent.
The rain's fantastic, even though it's caused trouble. At least it gives the grass a chance to germinate and start again, which is what we needed.
- John McDowell, Werris Creek Station
Mr McDowell said they had been feeding their stock for three years - buying in hay but also making hay and growing grain when they can.
He said he's been farming for 40 years and the "usual management tools" were inadequate/coming up short.
"[The drought's] gone on twice as long as we normally expect, so it's hard to have enough reserves," he said.
Mr McDowell it's even worse at his second property in Coonamble.
He is going to hold off fixing the fences at Werris Creek Station in case the property is hit by more storms and said the humidity was needed to "create storms to start breaking the drought everywhere".
