Storms drench Australia's parched interior, but won't break drought

FILE PHOTO: Winemaker and director of Peterson Wines Colin Peterson walks through a dry dam on his property in Hunter Valley, Australia, September 3, 2018. REUTERS/Stefica Bikes

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The heaviest rain in years has fallen across parts of drought-parched inland Australia, bringing relief to struggling farmers but likely not enough water to break a big dry that has crippled the country's most productive farmland.

"I just got home when the rain hit the house," said Greg Lawrence on the phone from 9 Mile Station, a sheep run just north of Broken Hill, a town 940 km (580 miles) west of Sydney.