Bushfires
Remember I was complaining about the heat a little while ago? This is hottest summer on record in Victoria with so many days above 40 degrees. So far we'd been lucky though, even though the heat was intense the days were still and it didn't start off any big bushfires.
Then, after getting through a whole week of above 40 temperatures, on Saturday everything blew up. And I mean that pretty literally. It got to 46.6 degrees in the city (which apparently is about 116 farenheit), and probably more in country Victoria and added to that the wind was just crazy. Then throw a drought stricken dried out countryside into the mix and what do you get? Disaster.
We're in the worst natural disaster Australia's had in more than a century. The death toll at the moment stands at 181 but they expect to find more; they think it'll go up to about 300. A lot of people died in their cars, trying to escape, others died trying to protect their homes. The fire moved too fast, and whole towns got wiped out. Marysville and Kinglake just aren't there anymore. Three houses are still standing in Marysville, everything else got burnt down. There are thousands of properties destroyed, about 3000 hectares burnt out. And the fires that started on Saturday are still burning. Not all, but enough.
It's all anyone's talking about right now. You turn on the radio and they're updating you on where the fires are at the moment; which towns are under most threat. You turn on the TV and it's just news and updates. There is no other news when you watch it; we don't care about the court cases going on or shoplifters or the cricket.
Personally I've been really lucky. I have relatives who live in country Victoria but so far the fires haven't gone into their area, and they're staying up in the city for now anyway. The city isn't on fire; I haven't lost my house or my family or my friends. The only people I know affected are people I know vaguely - friends of friends or someone I used to go to primary school with. It makes me feel kind of guilty for not being affected. I hate watching it on the news because it's pretty much footage of people crying and telling the camera that they've lost everything and it makes me want to cry, but I feel like I have to watch it. Like, I should watch it.
It's drawn people together, though. Donations are coming in thick and fast. I'm not sure about money but I know that authorities have actually asked people to stop, because people have been donating clothes and furniture like crazy, and though the people who have lost their homes will need it in the future, they have nowhere to put it now. Blood donations are going through the roof. Apparently usually in a month 1500 people across Australia will donate blood; now, in two days, they had 3000 people. They've stopped taking appointments, which is annoying because I wanted one, they just say 'thank you, give us your name and number and we'll call you". That's never happened before.
Of course, not everyone is like that. They think the fires at Marysville and at other places were deliberately lit. Ok, can I just ask - who the hell does this? Who seriously says, 'hey the whole state's on fire, people are dying, properties are burning, maybe it'd be fun to light some more?' They've arrested a couple of guys for arson, and their sentences are going to be huge. Kevin Rudd said there was no other word for what they'd done except mass murder. We don't know the names of people they've brought in, because if we did I think there would be lynchings. There's a facebook group I saw called, 'let's burn arsonists at the stake', and I'm sure there's more like that.
It's just a disaster. And it's still going. And who knows how long it'll continue? This week is pretty cool, low 20's, but it'll get warmer next week. And what about next summer, and the one after that? Will it happen again? Right now north Queensland is cleaning up after terrible floods; Victora and South Australia are coping with devastating fires.
We're just watching as it gets worse and worse. It's like a warzone. And no one knows what to do.
Then, after getting through a whole week of above 40 temperatures, on Saturday everything blew up. And I mean that pretty literally. It got to 46.6 degrees in the city (which apparently is about 116 farenheit), and probably more in country Victoria and added to that the wind was just crazy. Then throw a drought stricken dried out countryside into the mix and what do you get? Disaster.
We're in the worst natural disaster Australia's had in more than a century. The death toll at the moment stands at 181 but they expect to find more; they think it'll go up to about 300. A lot of people died in their cars, trying to escape, others died trying to protect their homes. The fire moved too fast, and whole towns got wiped out. Marysville and Kinglake just aren't there anymore. Three houses are still standing in Marysville, everything else got burnt down. There are thousands of properties destroyed, about 3000 hectares burnt out. And the fires that started on Saturday are still burning. Not all, but enough.
It's all anyone's talking about right now. You turn on the radio and they're updating you on where the fires are at the moment; which towns are under most threat. You turn on the TV and it's just news and updates. There is no other news when you watch it; we don't care about the court cases going on or shoplifters or the cricket.
Personally I've been really lucky. I have relatives who live in country Victoria but so far the fires haven't gone into their area, and they're staying up in the city for now anyway. The city isn't on fire; I haven't lost my house or my family or my friends. The only people I know affected are people I know vaguely - friends of friends or someone I used to go to primary school with. It makes me feel kind of guilty for not being affected. I hate watching it on the news because it's pretty much footage of people crying and telling the camera that they've lost everything and it makes me want to cry, but I feel like I have to watch it. Like, I should watch it.
It's drawn people together, though. Donations are coming in thick and fast. I'm not sure about money but I know that authorities have actually asked people to stop, because people have been donating clothes and furniture like crazy, and though the people who have lost their homes will need it in the future, they have nowhere to put it now. Blood donations are going through the roof. Apparently usually in a month 1500 people across Australia will donate blood; now, in two days, they had 3000 people. They've stopped taking appointments, which is annoying because I wanted one, they just say 'thank you, give us your name and number and we'll call you". That's never happened before.
Of course, not everyone is like that. They think the fires at Marysville and at other places were deliberately lit. Ok, can I just ask - who the hell does this? Who seriously says, 'hey the whole state's on fire, people are dying, properties are burning, maybe it'd be fun to light some more?' They've arrested a couple of guys for arson, and their sentences are going to be huge. Kevin Rudd said there was no other word for what they'd done except mass murder. We don't know the names of people they've brought in, because if we did I think there would be lynchings. There's a facebook group I saw called, 'let's burn arsonists at the stake', and I'm sure there's more like that.
It's just a disaster. And it's still going. And who knows how long it'll continue? This week is pretty cool, low 20's, but it'll get warmer next week. And what about next summer, and the one after that? Will it happen again? Right now north Queensland is cleaning up after terrible floods; Victora and South Australia are coping with devastating fires.
We're just watching as it gets worse and worse. It's like a warzone. And no one knows what to do.