oz ablaze

just hoping all you from down under are ok.
not a lot of news here about your fires, just that they are bad and quite a few people have died. originally from socal and know kind of what it's like with wildfires.

 

Awful. 171 deaths thus far. I hope it's not indicative of what our upcoming summer in the USA will be like.

 

Horrible, especially to hear it's arson related.

 

Some terrible tragedies coming out on the news. I hope that the firefighters get these fires under control soon.
G

 

Re: Bushfires and Floods in OZ

I've been absent from MG for the last few days. Here, in OZ, we've been glued to the TV watching the terrible fires in Victoria and NSW. The death toll is still mounting as police and others reach previously "too hot" areas.

Most of the early deaths were in cars caught in the open road. Now the toll is rising as burnt out houses are sifted through.

Tragic bushfire toll now 173
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25033579-661,00.html

Cairns, in flood.
Now for the big clean-up.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/02/09/27501_local-news.html

Here in Cairns, and south to Ingham, flooding rain has been the problem.
Every year Cairns, and points north of Townsville, are cut off by floodwater stopping traffic on the Bruce Highway. Successive governments, State and Federal, have done little to raise the Highway. Coles and Woolworths (who control 80% of supermarket sales) have done little to stock towns and cities north of Townsville with extra supplies just prior to the cyclone / monsoon season. In their continuing quest for the might dollar, they keep stocks to a minimum, relying on a daily barrage of trucks from down south. The slightest hiccup in road travel and we start to run out of food. This year it has gone on for longer and they have been forced to barge and fly in supplies.

Still floods are much better than bushfires as you usually have more time to prepare your escape plans.

There have been fires in many places in Victoria where I lived, visited, or went to school. All our thoughts go to those who have suffered, to the (mainly) voluntary firefighters and to the police whose worst task is ahead of them.

Bazza

Bazza

 

bazza's right all our attention has been fixed on the idiot box watching for updates to the fires that are burning in Victoria and New South Wales.The loss of life is so over whelming and a combination of shock and disbelief it is really hard to tear your self away from the hourly news bulletins in away hoping some how they have made an arrest but not yet,they say they are closing in on the mongrels that have started some of the fires.
173 lives lost and 5000 people homeless some still unable to go home or to where their homes once stood because they are still searching for more victims.
there is a fire burning about 50 kilometers from where i live it has been burning for about 4 or 5 days so far no homes or property damage it has been contained mainly to the national park area and with the rain we have had over the last 12 hours has helped to keep it maintained but tomorrow brings another day and these fires are so unpredictable.

 

Thats horrific. I've only seen bits and pieces of it because international news coverage isn't the best around here, but I've heard it's the worst firestorm in many many years and that people can't even get away from it... it's burning so fast it's catching them as they flee. It's just awful and hope anyone nearby can get out and away in short order so the death toll doesn't climb any higher

 

in regards to loss of life and property damage it is the worst in recorded history,tragically the lives that have been lost has almost and more than likely double the black Friday fires of 1939 when 76 people were killed.bush fires are unfortunately part of the par so to speak here in Australia what made this one so dangerous were the conditions of record high temperatures in the week prior ,strong southerly winds and a very long period of drought.
unfortunately the perfect weather conditions for fires and even worse the fire bugs new these conditions were the most extreme and the more they investigate the more sure they are that some of the fires were deliberately lit.
two people have already been arrested and charged for lighting fires here on the central coast near Gosford about a 45 minute drive north of sydney.but like usual they will get some bleeding heart forgiving judge who will feel sorry for them and let them of with a fine.

 

is it true that the other side of the country is flooded? That people are being warned of Crockadiles in the city while the other side of the continent is on fire?

That sounds like what happened here last year... California is built alot like Australia and it routinely is subject to massive sweeping brush fires, and while it was dealing with massive fires there, and in the south of the country due to excessive drought, the northern part of the country did not stop raining for... gee how long did we go? almost two full months it didn't stop raining and most of the norther border states were underwater. I don't remember how many people died, but it's nothing like whats going on where you are. People for the most part had time to leave, it was only a stubborn few that refused that were lost.

 

When i read the posts here it makes me realize how lucky i am.
I live in what can only be described as the flat part of Belgium and we do not get extremes of weather except high winds because we live very near the coast(2 miles) and in open land.

I really hope all our members from Oz are OK and that the fires will soon be under control enabling life to go back to some sort of normality.

 

g'day sorry for the late reply been having loggin problems.
wenchie in reply to your question yes there is also problems with flooding but that is up north on the east coast and the fires are down south on the east coast and i live in the middle on the east coast.up around cairns thats the far north east coast top off Queensland they have been inundated with lots of rain which is something we here in New South Wales could use some more of and Victoria where the majority of the fires are could use a lot more rain also.this time of the year the top half of Australia have monsoonal type weather, very hot, very wet and sometimes the odd cyclone or hurricane as it is known elsewhere.oh and also quite alot of saltwater croc's.a five year old boy was recently taken by one during the floods.
g'day bill i to live only about 2 kilometers in land from the ocean and have a lake about 500 meters down the road and as i stated i am 45 minute drive to Sydney but i am also surrounded by bush to the north and south and west just lots of trees and natural bush land so we get it from both worlds floods and fires the only thing we don't get locally is snow.for snow i only have to sometimes drive about 1 hour to the west up in the mountains and that is only in our winter months June through to August.

 

g'day just thought i would give those who may be interested an update on the Victorian fire disaster the death toll now stands at 181 and there is still 80 unaccounted for up to 1000 homes have been destroyed and 30 plus fires are still burning. there was an appeal launch to raise funds to help those who have lost so much and it stands at 50 million dollars.

 

...And if flooding and wild-fires in different parts of Aust. at the same time isn't contrasting enough, we are getting it relatively easy in Western Australia. A very mild summer, (a few hot weeks, but none of the 40+C temps. of the eastern states). Usually Perth bakes, and the east has it milder. Weather can be very fickle, especially in this country. Strange to look at a weather map of the nation and see Perth as the coolest, or second coolest capital every day.

~ My deepest sympathy, thoughts and prayers to all the victims, families and Fire Fighters, (many of whom are volunteers), of the greatest peacetime disaster in Australia's history.

 

The Fires in Victoria have been awful, although there has been 2 fires within a 40km radius of my location we were not under threat. We have friends and relatives caught up in the horror of Kinglake, Yarra Glen and Healesville.

Whilst delivering oaten hay to Kinglake on Tuesday I took a couple of snaps (nothing intrusive). The drive up the mountain to Kinglake via Pheasant Creek is usually a beautiful journey filled with birdsong, cool breezes and beautiful views - now there's no birdsong and a decimated landscape.

paramonks

 

have not seen much of the fire but they are showing this clip all over the airways here, it's uplifting among all the devastation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FT5DymIHU

 

How could they possibly be punished enough for all the loss.

 

As I've already stated on a thread a couple of days ago, I truly sympathise with the Australian people during this massive catastrophe. News bulletins over here in the UK have claimed a 39 year old man has been arrested for suspected arson. 3 ****ing 9! What is this arse wipe on? Here's hoping Kevin Rudd sticks to his word and he is charged with mass murder. I am getting angry just writing this. This pond life needs to be presented to the relatives of those who have perished. Let them judge him.

 

There ya go, I've been saying that for years.

There was something similar here (forget which state) long time back where the victim would choose the punishment even to the extent of working for them, I assume at their homes making repairs.
Of course that was for burglary non violent offenses.

 

g'day all yes a 39 year old man if you can call him a man was arrested and charged for lighting the church hill fire which killed 25 people.he has been charged with arson causing death,another charge of deliberately starting a fire which is arson anyway and possessing child pornography.this one is a real sicko.lets hope our legal system doesn't let us down and they lock him up for life since we don't have the death penalty and to me that's a shame.

 

I am sick and saddened by the destruction and death. I hope all our Australian members are ok. Very sad about the victims.

Fire is your best friend on a cold night, your worst enemy when misused.