Weather Watch - RockVegas Fires

A quick note for World Weather Watch.

(Yes, we missed Wednesday again. That'd be why it's not Wednesday WWW.

Just keepin' you on your toes!)

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It's another hot, dry day here at Granite Glen... the lawn is quite crispy after a week of me being away in the very green south-east corner. I am the sprinkler lady here, and my garden withered markedly in my absence.

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It's so easy to forget the terrible dry going on once you are in the city confines - recent rains have brightened Brisbane and Sunshine Coast lawns, filled tanks and dams, and given everyone leave to relax a little on their water saving activities.

The drive home northwards, past parched paddocks and fire-blackened hills sobered me abruptly.

The cows in this paddock were gathered in the corner looking out hopefully at the unburned grass on the other side of the highway. I couldn't bear to take a photo of them.

These little patches of verde, thanks to irrigation systems watering crops near creeks, were rare moments of visual relief along the journey.

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And today's news bulletins are enough to stun me into silence.

Well. Almost.

The gorgeous city that starred in my last post is today experiencing s

ome drama of the awful, fiery kind.

Rockhampton is facing a serious fire threat (photo: ABC News)

According to reports at midday (GG time) one home has already been lost and increasing winds are putting hundreds of homes and residents in extreme danger. An emergency situation was declared in the area last night and today experts have described "horror conditions".

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We all have everything crossed and those that live in the area in our thoughts - we don't need another bushfire like those that hit Victoria in February.

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Closer to home, we see smoke from fires to the west of here. These fires (40-50km away) have been burning for a couple of weeks now and strengthening winds have picked them up again. Clouds are forming in the 'right' spots for us to get a shower - whether this will help douse the flames only time will tell. Today's forecast for our area is for 'less than 1mm rain' today. So guessing the answer to that last poser would be negative.

*sigh*

The forecast for Rockhampton is for 50% chance of rain (for, you guessed it, less than 1 mm).
And as much as we need the rain, at the moment, I am wishing every bit of our cloud activity 300km north, towards the bushfires around RockVegas.

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Any weather dramas in your neck of the woods?

Or are you enjoying a balmy change of season?

Fire watch from afar...

Just a note to remind everyone to keep an eye on their news bulletins...

The fires in Victoria are ramping up again with thousands of people evacuated and hundreds of firefighters removed from the firefront currently considered 'too dangerous'.

My heart aches for those who have been on alert for weeks now.

I cannot imagine the weariness, the loss of normal life, the constant need to be 'on guard'.

I hope the vigil pays off.

I hope everyone stays sane.

And that a good night's sleep (or two!) is just around the corner.

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And while I have been appreciating our green outlook & recent rain showers up here...

My thoughts are down there - thousands of kms to the south of Granite Glen - with them tonight.

May the green follow the black... and soon!

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Postscript: some rain has fallen overnight... not enough to put out fires but a hopeful change!

Holding tight, heroes...and helping

This past week in Australia has been devastating.

The effects of the firestorms and floods have been widespread and earth-shattering. Even those, like us, who are safely out of harm's way, feel the reverberating pain of these tragedies - estimates of 300 people perished in fires, two people gone and thousands of animals dying slow awful deaths in floods.

I have been alternately mesmerised with horror and then unable to watch the television news broadcasts of what has happened - what is still happening. Those I talk to say the same thing - it's too big to handle in one hit. The feeling of quiet awful anguish for those in the path of the fires, of silent helpless sympathy for the thousands of families and livestock affected by the floods leaves me spent, and strangely guilty that we have been spared.

I take refuge from these swirling emotions in my kids - the 'normalness' of their play and laughter and bickering. I try to hold at bay the thought that there are children not laughing, who will never laugh or bicker again. I try to turn it into a thought that allows me to treasure my kids even more. It works most of the time.

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Gem posted about her husband today - one of the thousands of physically and emotionally exhausted heroes who are still battling to keep other people and property safe. She has shared how they miraculously managed to save their own home, but their relief is tinged with guilt knowing so many have lost so much. These firefighters - mostly volunteers - are undoubtedly incredible. And often at their wit's end.

As a family friend and firefighter wrote in an email a couple of days ago:

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We did something but it was inadequate...We spent the late afternoon following the devastation and putting out what remained. Most had not seen a fire truck, it was so quick and they to fend for themselves...Where I was many had saved their houses but they were in a state of shock, all out buildings gone, it was like out of the movies with darkness and so much still burning.

These men and women are experiencing and seeing first hand the fallout from what has been described as "equivalent to more than 600 Hiroshima bombs". Others have said it was like being "ready for a king tide, but instead getting a tsunami". A holocaust of the worst of Man and Mother Nature. I can't help but think that it will take the very best of Man and Mother Nature to bring this part of our nation back to life.

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I'm proud that my countrymen and women are opening their hearts and their wallets to help - we have surpassed the generosity of our government already. I'm proud of my sister for giving some of her blood - she has the type everyone can use so she is, in effect, giving some liquid gold to victims. Gem and her husband have donated all the hay in their saved shed to locals who will desperately need the fodder for their surviving animals.

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Aussies are, on the whole, good people. We have certainly been shocked out of our infamous laid-back attitude/apathy by these disasters. Some good stories are emerging. And people from all over the world are doing what they can - sending messages of support, clothing and monetary offerings for the massive rebuilding effort that must take place.

How the hell we heal these communities emotionally, I really don't know.

Time and support, I guess.

And evidence that the human race can provide something positive and strong rather than being negative and destructive. Reports this morning say that arson has been ruled out in the Kinglake fire (one of the most deadly) and this feels like a tiny step along that road.

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This photo has been published worldwide and, despite everything, it makes me smile.

The photo was taken by a firefighter (Russell Vickery ) and the koala handed over to a rescue group soon after. Apparently the Sam the koala (a female) suffered burns but is recovering well - the generous firefighter (David Tree) is no doubt still doing his job. Apparently if you want to purchase this amazing picture, you can phone the Herald Sun Shop on 1300 306 107 and proceeds will go to the appeal.

I just read that flood victims are giving to fire victims. Incredible... so how else can we help the fire and flood victims smile again ? I will leave the info up on my sidebar for people to leave messages or to send money to help rebuild.

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Last word today, to poet Dorothea McKellar, written over 100 years ago...

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of drought and flooding rains,

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel sea,

Her beauty and her terror

The wide brown land for me.

Attribution: all photos used in this post from news.com.au

Damnation...

When I tapped out yesterday's post asking y'all to keep in mind the terrible conditions in the south of our great nation, I had no idea of the enormity of what was happening. Of what would happen. No idea at all.

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When I heard 40-something people had perished this morning, I felt physically ill. I checked the blogs of those I knew were down there in the fires' paths, and came away concerned for a couple of them. Again and again I was taken back to my own experiences amongst such fires. Although the fires I covered were a little less destructive in terms of human life, they gave me a terrible appreciation of the potential scope of destruction. As each news report has come in, the weight of Australia's worst ever fires is settling, heavy and ominous. Tonight the death toll stands at 84. Police expect it to exceed 100. Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Unbearable.

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This afternoon I finally heard Gem was OK and her family had survived the inferno. She made time to post even in her post-shock state, saying:

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I am so close to tears at every second.

I feel like I am grieving but I should be rejoicing as we came through unscathed - physically.

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She has also since posted an amazing series of photos here of how she and her husband faced down the fires. It's worth a look.

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For a moment, as I look at her blog, I think I understand. I don't of course, not really. I can imagine the smell of the smoke and ashes, the stinging of eyes as you look over the remains of buildings you once knew, the surreal look of the should be familiar landscape around. But I cannot imagine the feeling of knowing your neighbours have lost everything they own. Of knowing cherished pets and animals have perished. I cannot imagine the community shellshocked from losing members in an instant. I cannot imagine how you lift yourself to face the next day, as surely these people and communities will.

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And most of all, I cannot imagine the kinds of minds that begin this kind of madness. That justify to themselves that this is some kind of sport, lighting fires 'for fun'. I watched as a forensic psychologist methodically explained the behaviour, and felt no closer to understanding. I don't think am a particularly vindictive being, I cannot help but think there must be some kind of special damnation for those responsible for this entirely uneccessary carnage.

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What kind of soul does this?

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I wrestle with this crippling, unanswerable question.

And cast it aside.

My thoughts tonight are instead with the survivors, and the families of the victims.

May the rains come.

May your communities hold firm and rebuild.

May dreams rise from the ashes once again.

And may this never, ever happen again.

Hellfire...

My thoughts tonight are with Gem and all those experiencing horrendous temperatures (I have heard reports of almost 50 degree Celsius) and terrible bushfires down in the southern part of this country: New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. To the north, floods are inundating towns and homes.

I have not heard if any lives have been lost in the tropical deluge (and I fervently hope they are not), but news reports say that the sky-rocketing temps down south may have taken up to 30 lives already and fires have killed 14 so far - this shocks me completely. I cannot imagine enduring that kind of heat day after day. My heart is with those dealing with it and the fallout from such scorching heat. It has been warm at here Granite Glen, but 34 degrees is positively balmy compared to the thermometre readings our fellow Aussies are feeling.

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While I have shared with you our use of fire (controlled burning) as a tool here, I do understand how truly frightening and dangerous bushfires can be ... in my previous life (as a news photographer) I covered many such blazes in the Riverina region of New South Wales and around the thickly timbered hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. Wild fires can move quickly and can wreak utter devastation in minutes. They leap roads like they aren't there, crackle through tree-tops like rolling orange waves, and roar through undergrowth like freight trains. Anything caught in the path of this fiery fury is left charred, smouldering. ...

It can be up to the whim of Mother Nature (with her choice of wind direction and precipitation) what gets scorched and what stays untouched. I have seen terrible things, watched others lose everything they own. And worse.

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My father is a firm believer that regular, regulated fires prevent the threat of bushfires, clearing the undergrowth of fuel before it builds too much and provides the means for a really hot fire that does real long-term damage. His favourite line is: Common Sense Must Prevail.

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I have heard both sides of the "to control burn or not" argument, and understand the points made by those who attest to the need for matter to sit and rot and provide nutrients. But when news like those currently dominating our headlines becomes an annual event, you have to wonder if my old man doesn't have a bit of a point?

Wherever you stand, join me in praying for those facing the hellish fury of bushfires and the energy-draining force of serious Summer heat tonight. And pray for the morons who (police suspect) deliberately lit some of the fires responsible for such terrible carnage.

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Somewhere in my prayer will be a line I say often:

Dear God, let it rain.

And please, send it where it needs rain the most.