Heavy rains continue in the Eastern Free State.
We have now had 524mm of rain since 1st December 2010. Rain clouds are everywhere and as one can see from the rainfall analysis below not many dry days.
See updated figures as at the end of January 2011 below:
This has had two very negative effects on Sandstone Estates:
1) Large portions of the railway have been washed away and undermined and considerable remedial work is required. Although this work has started it is being hampered by additional rainfall.
2) Our wheat crop which was of fair quality this year has not been harvested and is unlikely to be. Current estimates are it will take at least another month for the lands to dry out before the machines can start combining, by which time the grain will be non-useable.
Obviously nature holds the key to what happens over the next few months but these are the likely scenarios:
(a) The farm will have no revenue for most of this year because our Soya Bean crop which was planted in December is also under dire threat with many lands being under water.
(b) Obviously lack of revenue means that the business has to tighten its belt.
(c) We appreciate that we have a number of events booked for the year but we are confident that by April we will have repaired the railway. It is possible that some sections, particularly Vailima, might not be worth repairing, in which case the railway journeys will be shortened accordingly. We are however working flat out to ensure that visitors who are expecting to visit us this year are indeed able to enjoy a good Sandstone experience.
The long range weather forecasts indicate continued rain right through to the end of February.
