Can anyone tell me a bit more about the australian bushfires please?

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ayelbee

Here in Melbourne we havent had rain for 9 weeks and a drought for the past 8 years. We did have a few scattered raindrops on Saturday that didnt even register. In the fire zones the slight showers evaporated before hitting the ground.

We had temperatures of 49 celsius (around 120 farenheit) on Saturday . The wind temperatures were over 100km per hour. The wind swept the fires along and residents said that houses virtually melted. The flames were the size of a 10 storey building reaching up.

There are action plans put in place long before summer but nobody could have anticipated this.

One couple who live near one of the worst fire sites had a dairy farm. They lost everything and had to run for their lives. They are older people who said that they cant start again at their age. The woman said that the arsonists who light these fires get a few seconds of gratification without giving the slightest thought to how their actions impact on others.

In Australia we all know what summer can mean and its difficult to conceive the magnitude of the devastation that this weekend has left us with.

Im lucky that I live in the main metropolitan area of Melbourne but I have family who have had to evacuate their property before....if you have ever been in that situation or had family and friends in that situation you have some idea of what its like.

Most of the deaths have come as a consequence of people trying to flee their homes in cars and not being able to outrun the fire. Others have come as a result of people thinking they can stay and save their homes and property...last Saturday they had no hope.

If you want to see some of what is happening you can go to yahoo7.com.au for news although this still doesnt convey the magnitude of the destruction.

Update: Tuesday morning 10/2/09 - Number of confirmed deceased now risen to 173 with more still expected.

Everytime I see the figure climb I go numb. I cannot fathom how the families of 173 people are coping. Please, if you live in Australia and havent donated but can I ask that you try to give something to the appeals. These people are desperate...they have lost their homes and loved ones and need our help and support.

minimouse68

I think the best, and most horrifying, example of how little notice you get in a bushfire is the story about a man in Kinglake who put his kids in the car and turned back to the house to grab some stuff. He turned back to look at his kids to find his car was on fire. Both children died.
Youre not being insensetive, thanks for your kind thoughts.

ll_jenny_ll here

http://www.theage.com.au/world/monarchs-sadness-at-bushfire-disaster-20090209-8192.html

http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/2009/02/08/1234027828219.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/bushfire-toll-climbs-as-crews-battle-blazes-across-victoria-20090209-815t.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/default.htm

Thank-you for your thoughts.. .I am not directly affected by these fires... I do live in an area that just by sheer luck did not suffer the fires( but it is a bushfire zone )

You don't always get a lot of notice. There was a five about 10kms away from us .. and my husband told us to prepare to leave as if the wind had of turned ( which was a likely scenario ) it would have taken only a matter of 15 minutes or less for that fire to reach where we were...

with visibility very low .. .and a heavy smoke cloud from other fires .. it is hard to say if the people of kinglake and marysville realised they were in such a massive threat....

Saturday had weather like we had never experienced before .. temperatures over 46 degrees celcius and wild hot winds...

Please take a look at the links I provided as you can use other links that are on their sites to help you with the information you seek.

Elizabeth

Thank you for your concern this is a tragic time for all Australians.

There are the bushfires in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales and then in Far North Queensland homes have been inundated by record floods.

Victorian fires -
108 people dead, 750 homes destroyed in worst bushfires in Australia's history.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25027055-5000540,00.html
Also try Googleing - News King Lake Victoria Australia

North Qld floods -
Two missing in far north Queensland floodwaters.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,25025389-3102,00.html

Edit -
I'm watching the TV news about the Victorian fires at the moment and they were saying that the flames are/were 40 and 50 metres (130 ft to 160 ft) high. One example of how quickly the heat and fire travels - a family saw the flames coming (from what they thought was far away) and went out side to leave in their packed car and their home exploded in flames and was vapourised before they left the street.

There was no fire in their street their home and surroundings were so hot the building reached ignition point, and up it went.
Absolutely nothing anyone could do to prevent it.

leecelaura

So far 330,000 hectares have been burnt, over 750 houses destroyed and over 108 dead. Two of the major fires hav joined creating a massive fire front for the fighters. Kinglake and the surrounding are have been completely flattened with very few survivors from that area. Bunyip state park is also burning as is area around Trarlogon and several fires around the east side of Melbourne. The water supply is/was under threat but DSE and CFA workers are reducing the threat (so I hear) Most who have been interviewed say notice is minimal, you can smell the smoke then you can hear the roar and then it's upon them..if you haven't gotten out early..you're chances of survival are minimal..in other words..its a hell hole

Jemma K

Some people had no warning at all.
Bushfires are unpredictable and it doesn't help that we have scorching temps and high winds.
try www.abc.net.au/news that may have some more current info for you.

Misty Blue

My son is on a working visa in Oz at the moment .He's in Melbourne and the fires came fairly close.Even 50 klms can be nothing when a wildfire rages.The direction of the winds kept it going the other way.Some parts north of Melbourne were devastated and I reckon the death toll will rise,sadly.They're having power problems too.I just wired some money to him but the P.O. computers are all down in the area.So it creates a myriad of problems.I've been amazed at how big hearted and generous the Australians have been to those losing so much in the fires.Good on them.

Don D

To my Australian friends, I wish all the best to you all during these tough times. my prayers and thoughts are with you, wish i could help.
Don in Dallas

bezhard08@att.net

800 dead, 5000 homeless, kids started fire ruined plant life, homes cars humans

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