No let up from the fires in Australia

This shocking disaster has been going for months now in various places all around Australia.
This is the busiest time of the year....they don't call it the 'silly season' for nothing.
Any bookings in fire affected areas should have been refunded long before Christmas 2019 and New Year 2020.
There would not have been so many to evacuate out of these fire ravaged areas.
 

Warrigal said:
A forum friend of mine evacuated last night with his very frail wife. These are his posts

43 degrees outside, 23 degrees inside.
Air Con is cruising.
King Parrots have taken refuge in my large garage/ workshop.
No smoke here yet because the strong northerly is holding the Currowan fire back.
Some town folk reckon we've dodged a bullet ...
but, when the southerly change kicks in soon, we'll face it head on.
I'm no hero...I'm ready to go !
The farm manager has given me the nod to stay at the homestead.

The strong southerly wind did arrive around sundown

Barely got out of Bundanoon before we copped a fiery blast, a scary firestorm that engulfed our street in minutes. We tried to drive to Exeter but fire was raging across the road in front of us.
Did a U turn and drove to Bundanoon oval but that was starting to burn with a massive ember attack.
Highway Patrol cop said, follow me so we snuck in behind him and led about 100 cars to safe refuge.
Hard to keep up with the cop...we travelled about 30 kms inland, cross country on corrugated dirt road with trees down.
Eventually he led us to safety at Sallys Corner roadhouse at Sutton Forest. They then directed us up the Hume highway to Mittagong RSL, the evac centre.
No food...just tea, coffee and water. I found a couch and made a bed for missus T.
Very scary.... don't know if we have a home to go back to.

Bundanoon is a lovely small town in what is referred to as the Southern Highlands, although highlands is a bit of an exaggeration. It is picturesque. Mittagong is a larger centre north of Bundanoon.

Finally this morning

Didn't get much sleep...I purloined a three seater sofa from the club foyer and moved it into one of the large function rooms in the RSL club. My wife kipped down on that and I moved four chairs together to sorta make a bed...didn't sleep much.
Just having breakfast in the club dining room.
Cooked and served by the Sallies (Salvation Army) ...God bless 'em.
around two hundred people here....and provision for their pets, dogs, cats.
Don't know about our home....most of the roads are closed.
We are well.

When it is someone you know, it starts to get very real.
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One of life's worst fears is not knowing if you've lost your home. Of course losing a loved one or one's life and limb would be worse. But still. My heart just breaks for all of you down under, because this was a man made problem.
 
The bulk of the fires in Australia are nowhere near containted, and the weather conditions are expected to bring even more fires in coming weeks and months. The smoke, etc., is creating conditions leading to more thunder and lightning storms with little humidity in the atmosphere to allow for rain to form...and the lightning will start even more fires. Fires of this magnitude will most likely have global implications, especially in the Southern hemisphere, as the jet stream carries this smoke across the Pacific. The airborne pollution from these fires will quickly exceed the amounts of carbon, etc., being released by the use of fossil fuels. This could become one of the most historic events, with regard to "climate change", in decades....if not centuries.
 
Pinky said:
Warrigal, good to hear you were able to get out, and are safe. I know that flood, fire and drought are a given in Australia, but this is so extreme. I hope that your property was untouched.
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That wasn't me Pinky. The person evacuated is a forum friend. I'm perfectly safe in Sydney although we are getting plenty of smoke from nearby fires.
 
Don M. said:
The bulk of the fires in Australia are nowhere near containted, and the weather conditions are expected to bring even more fires in coming weeks and months. The smoke, etc., is creating conditions leading to more thunder and lightning storms with little humidity in the atmosphere to allow for rain to form...and the lightning will start even more fires. Fires of this magnitude will most likely have global implications, especially in the Southern hemisphere, as the jet stream carries this smoke across the Pacific. The airborne pollution from these fires will quickly exceed the amounts of carbon, etc., being released by the use of fossil fuels. This could become one of the most historic events, with regard to "climate change", in decades....if not centuries.
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You're not wrong, Don.
 
Scrolling through facebook this evening, seeing so many people in Mississippi praying for Australia. The link below has been posted by several and this is the Bible Belt! At times like this, I think most know deep in our souls that whatever universal God is out there hears our prayers by whatever name we call from an honest heart, even if it's a quantum mechanics collective consciousness. We weep with you and wish all our tears could change to rain for Australia.

Worldwide Collective Prayer for Australia

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I have just heard, via the Red Cross that my brother and his wife are safe. They were in Exeter and managed to get through to Canberra before the bushfires hit.

Australia is a large continent, but for the most part, we live on the coastal fringes of the country. A great deal of the country is not inhabitable.

Eucalypts are iconic Australian forest trees. Ninety-two million hectares of the Eucalypt forest type occurs in Australia, and forms three-quarters of the total native forest area. Most of that occurs along the coastal fringe, where we have chosen to live and they do burn with great ferocity.

I live on the Mid North Coast of NSW, and the fires went through here earlier on - September and October last year. I was not affected by fire, just had the relentless days of smoke and ash falling.

People are still living in tents on their properties - they've lost their homes and their livestock.

It will take a very long time for things to get back to "normal".


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grannyjo said:
Eucalypts are iconic Australian forest trees. Ninety-two million hectares of the Eucalypt forest type occurs in Australia, and forms three-quarters of the total native forest area. Most of that occurs along the coastal fringe, where we have chosen to live and they do burn with great ferocity.
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In the community where I live, lots of my neighbors opted to plant Eucalyptus because they're fast growing and drought tolerant. I decided not to because since they grow tall they attract lightning strikes. Am glad I planted smaller and slower growing trees.
 
I had a YouTube video pop up on my timeline, about 30 seconds long, showing people cheering because it was raining in Australia. Not sure if it is true, so I chose not to share. I read that since it is summer there, they do not have a lot of rain. An of our Aussie friend able to verify the rain story??
 
Catlady said:
In the community where I live, lots of my neighbors opted to plant Eucalyptus because they're fast growing and drought tolerant. I decided not to because since they grow tall they attract lightning strikes. Am glad I planted smaller and slower growing trees.
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Very wise decision. One thing we have learned the hard way in Australia is that introduced species can be a very big mistake.
 
They starve. However, they have been known to travel quite long distances in search of habitat after fires, including crossing major highways.

We have an organisation here called WIRES which stands for Wildlife Rescue. People who find injured or displaced native animals ring WIRES and are put in touch with volunteer carers. Veterinarians work with these carers to save as many as they can. It often involves round the clock attention and feeding.

If they survive, as many as possible are returned to the wild.
 
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