Residents of a remote Australian town experienced a rare weather event after ‘small live fish’ began falling from the sky. According to New York Post, the scaly phenomenon occurred during a heavy rainstorm in the town of Lajamanu, a small community in the arid Northern Territory, around 560 miles south of Darwin.
Locals said they were stunned to witness the ‘fish drop’ during heavy rainfall.”We’ve seen a big storm heading up to my community and we thought it was just rain,” Lajamanu local and Central Desert councillor Andrew Johnson Japanangka was quoted by ABC News.
Japanangka said the fishes were still alive as they fell from the sky, and children in the town rushed to collect them and keep them in jars. He further said that despite witnessing deluges of fishes in the past, the phenomenon never fails to amaze him. ”I think it’s a blessing from the Lord,” he added.
Reportedly, the same phenomenon was witnessed in Lajamanu in 2010, and it was previously recorded in 2004 and 1974.
According to weather experts, incidents like these can be caused by strong updrafts, such as tornadoes, which suck water and fishes from rivers. During a storm, they are carried for many kilometres before they fall from the sky as rains.
A local resident Penny McDonald recalls a similar incident that occurred 40 years ago. “I got up in the morning, I was working in the school at the time, and the dirt streets outside my home were covered with fishes. They were small fishes and a lot of them around. It was just amazing,” Penny McDonald was quoted by ABC News.
