Perspective

[bop_radar]

Putting my fannish woes in perspective, my state has just suffered/is suffering the most devastating bushfires in its history. There are at least 65 dead, and the toll will rise. 700 homes are lost and the number will increase. Among the lost townships, are:
- Marysville, a beautiful, idyllic mountain village I used to holiday in as a child--95% of the town is burnt to the ground
- Kinglake/Wandong, an area I drove through two weeks ago to go berry picking--burnt out cars litter the Kinglake road, including a four-car collision
- the Yarra Valley, where acres of vineyards have been lost
- the outer suburbs of Melbourne also got hit with some fires sweeping so fast that people had no time to get out.

There are some horrific stories coming out of these places, and the fires are still raging. What triggered this? A day of hell with the temperature rising to 46 degrees, the hottest in our history, with winds gusting at 70km an hour, no humidity to speak of. With air that dry and winds that fast, and then the winds changing rapidly, these were always going to be tinderbox conditions.

There is little left to say except that I hope we do not see a day like this again in my lifetime. But with global warming, the chances are we will.

Comments

[elzed.livejournal.com]

Oh, honey, I have just been reading through the horror that is taking place in Victoria - and it sounds absolutely appalling, and terrifying.

Much love and hope that the heat and dry conditions will abate soon.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

It's actually quite surreal because we're fine here but only an hour away, there is this hell-like inferno, or the after effects of it. It's eerie. Usually there would be smoke so we'd at least see that, but there's nothing. I'm just watching the news in disbelief.

[elzed.livejournal.com]

I can imagine how disturbing that must be. And there is a cruel twist in that you're suffering drought-related fires while North Queensland is under metres of water.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Yes! And it wasn't so long since Queensland had terrible drought too. The country's extremes are rapidly getting worse than ever. It's blowing the record books away.