Roads remain submerged in floodwater, ghostly rivers have risen from the dead, paddocks are a sea of green, and mosquitoes are breeding like it's the tropics. Welcome to the drought, NSW style.
Despite a surge of devastating floodwaters through parts of the west and central west since Christmas, drought crept across a further 1 per cent of the state last month, taking its claim to 81.8 per cent at the beginning of the year.
State Government figures to be released today show 95 per cent of the state is officially, or marginally, in drought.
Coonamble, where residents were evacuated from their homes just a week ago to escape floods, is firmly in drought territory.
The Mayor, Tim Horan, said the green pastures were an illusion: ''People refer to it as the green drought. We're green on top but we've still got the drought underneath.''
It would be at least another 12 months before farmers in the region could begin to turn ...