How's the weather in your area?

[ziggy_encaoua]

Well two weeks today I'll be back in South Africa enjoying the sun

[Sarongman]

Well, it is really strange here as, North Queensland has had metres of rain and the worst flooding in decades, enough to be declared a disaster zone. The south, where we are, is getting easterly weather and high 20s to low 30s (celsius) while Melbourne and Adelaide have had days (weeks) in a row of the mid 40s. The power system was unable to cope with the demand and failed in many places, rail lines buckled and, I believe the morgues in Melbourne and Adelaide are full of folks who have died of heat stress.

[Sarongman]

Horrendous, unprecedented, hellish--- just a few words to describe the bushfires in Victoria. The death toll at the moment stands at 173 and is rising as more bodies are found in the rubble of burnt out dwellings. The specialist at the melbourne burns unit says it is worse than the effects of the Bali bombing. The historic town of Marysville no longer exists. Hardened politicians were in tears, as they surveyed the devastation, including the Victorian premier and our own Prime Minister. A humidity level in the single figures, over the century heat in the old scale and strong winds made ideal disaster weather, plus the fact that Eucaypt forest is HIGHLY inflammable.
Please spare a thought, and maybe a prayer, for the poor folks down there who, in many cases, have lost everything.

[sapphire]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you and yours and all of the folks in the fire area. May you stay safe and comfort for those affected by the fires.

[Cams]

We were warned that Saturday was going to be bad. Strong northerly winds low humidity and tempretures in the high 40's C. Melbourne recorded 46.4C further north and surrounds saw 50C.

My initial panic was learning a fire had started near our home, we live in the outer suburbs, almost rural, but still a suburb. Several homes were lost but many saved. We were out for a while, choose to leave and be safe. On travelling back the sky was smoke, it wasn't blue. Our house is fine. Soon after this we heard of the devastation north of Melbourne, Kinglake and Marysville plus surrounding towns. Absolute devastation. Marysville was such a picturesque town, a popular place to go, now only a handful of buildings are left. Very similar story at Kinglake. Those that died did not stand a chance.

[Mipi]

That's just terrible! Hope at least the lives were/will be spared.

[Jack Williams]

Look Sarongman, the weather there in Victoria is beyond a joke. A hundred year old house just went up in a puff of smoke. It is really hard to comprehend. I've been away from the computer for a spell, but had decided not to comment on the weather, because i could think of nothing to say. But others have broached the subject and said plenty. Last Sunday, while Victoria was a conflagration, right next door in N.S.W. the Blackcaps won the toss and decided to bowl at 2pm. Says it all. Jack.

[Since1982]

I'm praying for all in the burn/flood areas in "The land down under". Having lived most of my life in Florida, (I'm 67 and have lived in Hurricane country since I was 2), have a "been there done that" outlook on what's happening in that area. We've lost 2 homes to either windstorm/fires or flooding and do understand how debilitating it can be to be suddenly "out on the street" with no good outlook. Fortunately for me, both of those happened when I was young and my dad, who was a construction man, rebuilt our homes from the ground up within a reasonable amount of time. Fortunately, there was still viable ground to build them on. Good luck to all in Satan's eye and hurry back to rebuild your abolished lives.

[Jack Williams]

I'll certainly second that. Jack.

[sapphire]

How are things in Victoria now?

[Sarongman]

I only have it secondhand from our national news bulletins but, there are still a couple of fires out of control, even though the weather is a lot cooler. Kinglake residents were finally ( after a whole week ) bused back to their devastated town to, really, get some closure, as there is almost no infrastructure left. Previously it was a declared crime scene and nobody except the police were allowed there. Fire fighters have arrived from the U.S.A., New Zealand and Canada for which we are most grateful as ours must be nearly at breaking point from exhaustion.Also, a team of forensic scientists from Indonesia have arrived to try to identify the bodies. ( death toll has stood at 181 now for a few days) It is said that the heat, in some cases, was so intense, that some people were completely cremated and may never be found. I'll leave it to Cams to give any greater detail, as he is a Victorian.
As for the floods in North Queensland, news is sketchy but, the waters are receding people can now shovel mud from their houses and washed away bridges and broken up road surfaces can be attended to and the saltwater crocodiles removed from the town areas. Sadly, a 5 year old child was taken by one whist paddling in the swollen Daintree river.

[Since1982]

Wow, that's terrible. And here I thought our hurricanes were a threat. Nothing like that. We've had bad hurricanes in the Keys but they are usually worse when they get on land and away from our islands. I always run away and hide in huge casinos when my area is threatened. I own a med sized mobile home on a canal that empties right to the Atlantic ocean so floods are usually not a problem here. I run away because in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew decimated Miami, I stayed in the Keys and got stuck here for 5 weeks until they got electricity back on and the high mounds of dirt and trees off the roads. I nearly died in that experience. If it wasn't for my 30 foot boat with a generator on board I would have. With temps of over 100, ppl stuck in trailers with no electric were having a terrible time.

Ever since, no matter how big or small the hurricane is, I evacuate to the Miccosukie Casino and Hotel on mainland Florida. Whatever is going to happen to my home is going to happen whether I'm there or not, so I might as well take it with a grain of sand and go play poker and gamble that my home will be there when I return.

Hurricane Katrina, which flooded and crushed New Orleans, Louisiana, came right over my house on it's way there. When it went over us, it was only a tropical wave, with winds of 25mph and not something to worry about. Very much an eye-opener when it hit N'awleens(a nickname for New Orleans) tho. I even run to the casino now from tropical waves that "might" become stronger.

[Cams]

Many of the fires are still burning, I believe there are about 20 active fires. The one near my home keeps flaring from time to time but is well managed by our local brigade. Something like 300 000 hectares have been burnt (1 hectare is about 4 acres) 201 lives lost and about 2000 properties destroyed, I could go on.

Instead, here is a copy of what someone I know wrote about it. He is a golfing friend and works as a Police Officer stationed at a nearby town, Seymour to be precise, just west of the Kinglake and Marysville fires.


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In late August, last year, I took my family for a day trip to the snow at Lake Mountain. On the way, we stopped for lunch at the little town of Marysville.

As we drove into town, we passed the Marysville Golf Club which is amongst the prettiest courses I have played. My wife, Ann, had never visited Marysville before and was impressed with the beauty of the town.

Marysville is set into a gully between two large hills. It was surrounded by a forest of towering mountain ash trees, large tree ferns and other beautiful flora and fauna. The town itself had a nice mixture of old and new buildings and seemed to seamlessly merge with the surrounding bushland. Street plantings of none native deciduous trees melded nicely with the many existing native species.

Marysville was one of the prettiest towns in Victoria.

I returned to Marysville on Sunday as one of the first police members to enter the town since the fires.

I drove in along the same tree lined road from Buxton as I had five months earlier. But this time there was no greenery. The tall eucalypts were now completely blackened and many were still burning. Fallen trees and power lines lay across the road and the ground was devoid of all vegetation.

Along the eleven kilometre drive from Buxton to Marysville, were the scattered carcases of both native and domestic animals which had been caught in the fire. More disturbing were the surviving cattle with their singed hides wondering on the roads in search of feed.

As I entered the outskirts of Marysville, I passed the golf course. I saw that many of the tall ash trees through which the fairways meandered had been burnt but was pleased to see that the much of the course had survived the fury of the fire. The watered fairways were like an oasis amongst the surrounding blackened ground.

I continued towards the township and was struck by the eerie silence. It was a surreal scene. Smoke had settled like fog between the tall blackened tree trunks of what was once thick forest. It resembled something out of a horror movie.

Nothing in twenty years of policing could have prepared me for what I was to find in the town. Comparisons to war zones and nuclear bomb sites are not over stated. The whole town had been razed to the ground.

Of the hundreds of buildings which once stood, only a few remained standing. In the centre of town, the bakery, where we had eaten lunch last year, still stood, as did a two storey motel a short distance up the road. As if by some sort of sick joke, these buildings seemed relatively unscathed while everything around them was absolutely levelled.

I attended at the CFA shed which was also undamaged. I later found out that many townspeople had sheltered here while a fire tanker sprayed the outside of the shed with water. This undoubtedly saved the shed and the lives of those inside.

At the CFA shed, I met the only living resident of Marysville I was to encounter this day. Five months ago, the town was teeming with thousands of locals and visitors. This day, other than police, I was to see just the one.

I spoke to this bloke, a CFA volunteer, and he described to me the fury of the fire. He said that the first he saw of the fire was a distant glow from over a hill 12 kilometres away. Minutes later, the fire had passed them, leaving much of the town unscathed. But, then a second fire storm swept straight through the centre of town, demolishing everything in its path.

The fire was so large that it dwarfed the 30 metre tall mountain ashes which fuelled it and so fast that nobody in its path could hope to escape.

I then set about performing the tasks I was assigned. These included welfare checks of properties for persons feared to be caught in the fire as well as finding and marking the locations of deceased persons.

There were many truly awful scenes. There were bodies in cars, in the streets and in house yards. There will, no doubt, be many more located in the debris of houses once a more thorough search is conducted. I have never seen anything like this before and I hope I will never have to again.

I completed my duties late that night and headed back to Seymour.

I had to stop my car on the way out of town for a baby possum crossing the road. I watched as it wondered across the road and onto the charred earth on the other side where it prodded the ground with its nose in search for food. It will not find any and is certain to die. Like the people of Marysville, the possum had lost everything.

As I left Marysville, the smoke which choked the air caused my eyes to well with tears.


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Many of the areas had a fire plan, the idea is to prepare your home, spray water over clear gutters etc etc. Then when front approaches go in your home, wait for front to pass then come out and extinguish spot fires. This fire was so powerful that it "blew" houses apart. There was nothing these people could do. Many livestock, pets and native animals have also been killed. There is no grass left for livestock.

The relief effort has been amazing, millions donated, clothes, toiletries, tents, caravans, spare rooms, per food, stock feed, water. It is amazing. People have come to help from the world over.

These people need all the help they can get.

[Uncle Al]

Well, in north Texas, the temps today reached 80F. My indoor-
outdoor thermometer registerd 82F. We are very short on rain
so far this year, and we are under a Red Flag warning
for our area. A Red Flag warning means fire danger.
The winds are very high, 25-35 mph with gusts to 45 mph.
It's the right temp for kilts and skirts, but not with this wind

My wife just spoke with our niece in the northern part of South Dakota.
They are expecting 6 inches of snow tonight. I'm glad we now live in Texas.
No More Snow

Uncle Al
Duncanville, TX

[Mipi]

Hmmm... Don't know what's wrong with the snow. It has melted in our parts, but I went on night skiing last night. Isn't it boring to have almost the same weather all the time?