Residents were united in giving thanks for the welcome rain that fell  in the district late yesterday afternoon.

Falls of up to 28mm were measured in the central town area.  On Friday, there were also reports of light hail falling.

While the area is still in the grip of a crippling drought, the rain has brought some early Spring relief.  However, there is still a long road ahead with the Endumeni totally reliant on water from the Buffalo River, pumped from Chelmsford dam, for water as all dams in the area have either dried up or the water is unusable.

The weatherman has predicted further falls in the new week.