Heavy rain in South Australia breaks August records and disrupts Telstra services
Heavy rain across South Australia has broken August rainfall records in several places and caused service disruptions on the lower Yorke Peninsula. Telstra said customers in Yorketown and surrounding towns were affected after water damaged its exchange in the area. The weather has also prompted minor flooding concerns along the Onkaparinga River.
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The company said the severe weather caused water ingress at the Yorketown facility, affecting critical transmission equipment. It said technicians had assessed the site and were working to source replacement parts needed to restore services as quickly as possible. The disruption has affected customers in Coobowie, Edithburgh, Marion Bay, Point Turton, Port Moorowie, Stenhouse Bay and Warooka, according to the statement.
The State Emergency Service said it had responded to almost 90 jobs on Monday and more than 20 since midnight. Its state duty officer said incidents were scattered across the Adelaide Hills and Mount Lofty Ranges, including the Oakbank area, where minor flood levels had been reached and water was over some roads. He also said roads were covered around Sellicks Beach and Aldinga, while volunteers were expected to remain busy as more rain and wind were forecast.
The weather bureau issued a minor flood warning for the Onkaparinga River, saying minor flooding was possible at Clarendon Weir and Old Noarlunga early on Tuesday. It said moderate to locally heavy rainfall had been observed across the Onkaparinga catchment since Monday afternoon, causing river and creek levels to rise. The bureau also said August daily rainfall totals had been broken in several spots across the state.
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The incident highlights how a period of intense rain can affect both transport and communications infrastructure at the same time. In this case, the lower Yorke Peninsula has seen telecommunications disruption while other parts of the state have faced road flooding and river rises. For emergency services, the spread of callouts across multiple regions suggests the weather system has been broad rather than confined to one locality.
The immediate focus is on restoring mobile and fixed-line services in the affected Yorke Peninsula towns and monitoring river levels in the Onkaparinga catchment. It is not yet clear how long repairs at the Yorketown exchange will take or whether further rainfall will worsen flooding in the coming hours. Authorities are also watching for additional weather-related callouts as winds and rain continue.
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