Fires & floods
I just wanted to say that I'm okay out here in Aus, thank you everyone who asked. :) I hadn't realised that the problems we were having over here had been broadcast overseas so much. Though I suppose I shouldn't be suprised, it's pretty dire.
The death toll of the bushfires in Melbourne (southern part of Australia, below where I am) has reached around 175 people, and is expected to climb. There have been hundreds of homes lost and entire towns wiped out by the fires. The problem has been that it's been so very hot recently there, and so evertyhing is bone dry. A suburb in Melbourne reached 47 degrees celcius on Saturday... and there have been records broken all around. That, combined with the fact that a cool change swept in, changing the air pressure and creating massive winds, which have spread the fires so fast. Most people were trapped in their cars or houses, unable to outrun the fire.
The worst part is, at least two of the fires have been confirmed to be deliberately lit. Someone started them, and could have also started other recent fires (one of which also killed 19 people). I don't know how people can do that kind of thing. It's just sick. And they're now mass murderers. The police are still after them, but there's a lot of other things that are more pressing at the moment...
I guess the horribly ironic thing is that (and I'm not sure if this is being reported overseas) while the southern part of of eastern Australia is burning, the northern part is flooded. North of me, in Queensland, there's massive flooding, which has also done a lot of damage but has, thankfully, not been very life threatening.
I hope the others here on LJ in Aus are okay. eskiie, and everyone else in Melbourne... be safe!
The death toll of the bushfires in Melbourne (southern part of Australia, below where I am) has reached around 175 people, and is expected to climb. There have been hundreds of homes lost and entire towns wiped out by the fires. The problem has been that it's been so very hot recently there, and so evertyhing is bone dry. A suburb in Melbourne reached 47 degrees celcius on Saturday... and there have been records broken all around. That, combined with the fact that a cool change swept in, changing the air pressure and creating massive winds, which have spread the fires so fast. Most people were trapped in their cars or houses, unable to outrun the fire.
The worst part is, at least two of the fires have been confirmed to be deliberately lit. Someone started them, and could have also started other recent fires (one of which also killed 19 people). I don't know how people can do that kind of thing. It's just sick. And they're now mass murderers. The police are still after them, but there's a lot of other things that are more pressing at the moment...
I guess the horribly ironic thing is that (and I'm not sure if this is being reported overseas) while the southern part of of eastern Australia is burning, the northern part is flooded. North of me, in Queensland, there's massive flooding, which has also done a lot of damage but has, thankfully, not been very life threatening.
I hope the others here on LJ in Aus are okay. eskiie, and everyone else in Melbourne... be safe!