T64
Our current crisis
January 05 2020
Comments
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time4us4play
6 years ago
Great topic Annie. Although we personally have not been affected by the fires, our son lost his life long best friend as a result of them. Andrew was one of the two RFS volunteers killed in the Buxton fires. Our whole family is devastated. Andrew leaves behind a beautiful wife Melissa and the most adorable 19 month old daughter Charlotte. There is so much devastation to communities and wildlife. A huge thank you to these amazing volunteers who risk their lives and leave their own homes to help others.
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RHP User
6 years ago
Thanks for this topic. I am fortunate and lucky that I am not been in between those fires. My greatest respect to all the people who are helping the people to fight the fires and help the people in need. My Instagram feed is filled with pictures of animals and people who have lost everything and it hurts looking at the pics... I hope we be strong and get through this and be there for all.
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RHP User
6 years ago
Every time I log onto social media my heart feels like it’s breaking a little bit more 😢 I first came to Australia 10 years ago on holiday and fell in love with this beautiful yet harsh country. I immigrated here a few years later and my feelings have only grown stronger for what is now MY country. The sheer acts of heroism that is being displayed every minute. I cannot express how this has overwhelmed me, from the firies at the very forefront to the silent volunteers collecting food items and toothpaste. Every effort helps, And I’m once again reminded why I love this country and it’s people. Annie I know this is your post but please can this not be turned into a political mud slinging arena? Great post 💕
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SpicyKale
6 years ago
Annie, we remembered that you were heading that way from the NYE thread... glad you're safe. We touched on this on SSE's thread on the best places to live in Aus. The Adelaide hills fire before Christmas came within about 4km of us before a wind change. So not directly affected, but it put shivers up us. The engineer I use at work lost his life defending his house, it's a huge loss to his family and friends. We've had a few scary days since and it keeps you on edge. It's definitely made me rethink the extension plans I'm procrastinating over at the moment. We have a certain bushfire attack level to design to, but I'm thinking a few levels above now! Fire sprinklers fed from a pool etc... It leaves you a bit shaky thinking about it. We had another catastrophic fire ban day last week and just cleared out to the movies and work. We're in no where near as bad a position as a lot, but it definitely makes you re-evaluate when family is involved My heat goes out to those that have lost love ones, and decades of memories 😞
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SpicyKale
6 years ago
*heart
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RHP User
6 years ago
They have had to leave their home in Kiah. The pictures on social media are heartbreaking. The support from all around the world is amazing, firies flying in from other countries and famous names giving their time and donations. Pink has donated 500,000 dollars. I feel for those who have lost everything and are probably in despair at this moment :(
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AnnieWhichway
6 years ago
No political posts in here. It's not the time for it. Also not wanting climate change brought into it. There will be time after the crisis is over
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nickyo67
6 years ago
I live near Rappville, the 1st village to be hit by these fires on Oct 8th,20 houses,many sheds 100s of cattle,all gone in one crazy,crowded hour,it missed my property by over a kilometre due to luck,but I was standing there watching this wall of roaring death,turned day into pitch black night, if I headed in the away direction,it would be into heavily ttimbered country,so stayed put,power was gone early so I had my dam pump wetting down the house( I live on 140 acres) inside and out,wet everything!fuck it,wet it all,and the girl with me crying in terror,begging us to leave,shaking,it was just unbelievable,I was pretty cool considering and was quite surprised to still be alive.then i lit up the drip torch and moved to the back yard with her and explained,as soon as we see flame thru there,about 80-100 m away,im going to light up a 100 m strip and then cross the T,we will run down the T and keep going,the wind changed and we were out of danger and very happy till I realised that my friends and neighbours are now about to die,at this time I thought everyone in Rappville was dead.somehow only 2 of my friends died and I wont bore you with the heroics that soon followed by me and my neighbours, but did what we all could, we were stunned but I felt pretty good that id survived, then the 2nd front hit. This same scene has been repeated every day somewhere since then,i still have tears flowing just driving to Rappville, grown hard men now can't look each other in the eye down the pub without tears flowing, knowing full well what each has been thru and going thru,The Assassin and his wife( he was john Howard's body guard,lol)lives were only saved by kids who couldn't drive driving a truck into his shed,cows running thru the village on fire along with ' roos goannas snakes rabits but no koalas,they nearly all burnt to death,im rubbing the tears away again now,knowing that those locals that lived thru or lost there house are never going to live here again,can't blame them either,the core of our little community has been taken forever,and this has now happened 100s and 100s times all over the country. This is turning into a rant so ill stop,I just want people to know the truth, the heartache and the hurt Australians are feeling,but all we can do is get on with getting things back to how they were,its going to takes yrs .ps, the hardest working charity's are the Red cross and Salvos ,they were on the ground making a difference, and are well worth supporting if your that way inclined, And thanks for letting me unload just abit of the horror
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RHP User
6 years ago
I’m not personally affected but friends of mine were stuck in Mallacoota and just flew out. Other friends of mine live in Pambula and had to leave their house last night as it was too unsafe to stay. They also have a holiday house in Mallacoota that is their source of income. Another friend was coming for a visit from Sydney via the coast and had to turn back. No one I know lost their lives and my heart goes out to the ones that have. Nonetheless I feel very sad for the loss of live and home. It’s traumatic to see the pictures and hear the harrowing stories. I feel very sad for our native and domestic animals. We know the worst is not over yet, with the fires continueing to burn for many more weeks.
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usrightnow_Again
6 years ago
Annie, glad you got out in two pieces, hope any property was spared. Also hope you and others can return to these holiday places in time to come and be able to enjoy them once more. We know some people evacuated, great they are safe now. Also good to see that mental health care has been included in the assistance packages. Stay safe everyone, evacuate when safe to do so and as authorities instruct. Remember, there are people who have lost homes, who can't go into work today, as their businesses are gone too. Great thread Annie. Mr. urn. .
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kisslids
6 years ago
Well done Annie If you see anyone affected, just ask if their ok. The tradies I use have lost everything and we need to help these guys get back on their feet.
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RHP User
6 years ago
My partners kids are selling anything they can to donate to the fires. its hard to watch and we drive between Orange and Sydney often and have seen fire right on the side on the road. It is mentally distressing and you are ok to feel this way and to vent. Maybe talk to a professional about the way you are feeling.Your feelings are very valid.Hxxx
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RHP User
6 years ago
The small town I grew up in was surrounded, and thankfully saved from the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires, but even now, I can smell the difference between a bonfire and a grassfire, and it brings old images to the forefront. I had a close call last month, a large fast moving fire got within 3km. Thankfully there was a wind change in the early evening, however the fear of being in a bushfire again was too real. My hope is that there are plenty of specialist trauma psychologists on hand to help survivors, because they will need it. 😕
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RHP User
6 years ago
Sorry but taking politics and climate change out of this is akin to taking the salt out of the soup. I just despair. Gotta love Bette Midler. Looters. The feminist who said the frustrated fire fighters will go home and bash their wives. Really, how do you take the politics out of that. The best and the worst is all on display.
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boobsandbusted
6 years ago
Going to buy some Slabs of water and uht milk to send down. Tonight Mr b
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RHP User
6 years ago
I can barely go on social media or any news channel because it just makes me cry. Thank you for all of your stories, so much sorrow but also little bits of relief
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RHP User
6 years ago
I have a family member who’s 2nd lieutenant at their local CFA station.... They’ve been up north for a tour of duty, and has been very active in their local area with call outs. And at the risk of sounding insensitive, their stories don’t really focus on the losses, but merely focusing on just doing what’s within their capabilities without all the emotional response that I’ve read about on social media.. I could be wrong and they could be entirely feeling a pinch, but I’d be surprised if they were without talking to their matrimonial partner as they’re tight as fuck.... Mr dragon
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RHP User
6 years ago
We have a holiday shack down at Surf Beach (5km south of Batemans Bay). The RFS web site says the fires went right through our property and beyond so we are not holding out much hope for our place. There are so many others who have lost far more than us so our hart goes out to them at this time.
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countrytouch82
6 years ago
Apparently a ski resort at Selwyn has burnt down. It goes to show under certain conditions even the high alpine areas that are certainly not overgrown (one would think a ski resort is quite clear with room for ski runs and all) can still go up in flames while there is any vegetation and/or with ember attack. I read another account of another quite open property that got burnt early in the crisis, that got burnt again a number of days later, one normally considers burnt ground as safe, but under such extreme conditions any amount of fuel left on the ground at all will still burn and spread fire. While this kind of spread is less intense, the firefighters simply cannot be everywhere at once, and the situation becomes impossible with new starts due to lightning and thousands of kilometres of fire ground perimeter. This is why the priority changes to lives and evacuation.
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RHP User
6 years ago
...and feeling sick every time the news comes on...and I am sitting in a suburb, safe, far away from any fires., a suburb that is barely visible from smoke from fires in Tassie apparently. I feel sick every time my mind wanders to all those who have lost property, their livelihoods, friends....many of these folk without insurance....conservative estimates of over 500 million animals lost, live stock, pets, wild life. I have friends currently surrounded on 3 sides by fire in the High Country, friends on the Central South coast NSW that I havent been able to reach. How do all that have been affected come back from such a large scale disaster.? Emotionally, physically, financially, environmental....all of it.
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AnnieWhichway
6 years ago
It led to my first experience of panic buying in the supermarket, very early in the event. However, l was surprised, contrary to the usual disaster movies, there was no sign of pushing or shoving. There was pleasantries and courtesy almost smiles even. I would have thought given so many extra souls crowded into town, as Netflix streaming was impossible, one could have forgiven for everyone to be a little grumpy.....
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AnnieWhichway
6 years ago
Quoting 'usebi' Sorry but taking politics and climate change out of this is akin to taking the salt out of the soup. I just despair. Gotta love Bette Midler. Looters. The feminist who said the frustrated fire fighters will go home and bash their wives. Really, how do you take the politics out of that. The best and the worst is all on display. I hear what you are saying . But now is not the time for finger pointing. Survive. Recover . Learn. I lived through Ash Wednesday on the Great Ocean Road . We have survived, recovered and learnt. We will again. We can't compare Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday with today. Different conditions, different attitudes with evacuation tactics from what has been learnt. The thread is for venting
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countrytouch82
6 years ago
Confirmation, Selwyn Ski Resort has burnt down, at Cabramurra NSW, not a resort at Selwyn which I wrote it a little confusingly, so unrelated to Mt Sewlyn in VIC.
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usrightnow_Again
6 years ago
There was a woman on the news the other night, who said her and her husband had had to put down an astronomical number of sheep. I saw today that the impact on the national herd is in the order of 12%, so far.One of the things people we know with property holding livestock have mentioned, is the fencing that has been lost. Some of this fencing was erected a very long time ago, in very difficult terrain and they don't believe that fencing will ever be restored. It's just too dangerous to do so. Loss of fencing has seen livestock occaisionally on or along roads, so be wary. Likewise, the fires have moved some very big roos into areas they aren't usually seen, so be mindful of native wildlife along roads in affected areas too. . Mr. Dragon, tend to agree, the RFS volunteers we know, speak in terms of logistics and management of fires they have been involved in fighting. Frequently resigned to fires that are beyond their capability to control and sometimes have jumped them and they're forced to look to what they can do. In fact, the most emotion we have seen from them has been when there own animals were threatened. . ct., I heard that the 6 people who work there in the summer season, were evacuated before the fire moved through the area, not sure if it was being defended by The RFS. Although there are ski runs and therefore grassed areas , (these tend to burn at a lower temperature and, depending on the prevailing winds, slower), the region has plenty of wooded areas, consisting largely of eucalypts, which provide plenty of fuel and burn quite hot, due to oil content. . Mr. urn. .
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RHP User
6 years ago
Rather than donate to bushfire relief which seems well subscribed, I’ll donate to Greening Australia instead.
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usrightnow_Again
6 years ago
Sadly, it's not just the Selwyn resort and area. I was sorry to hear, the old gold mining town of Kiandra, a few kilometres down the road, also had fire destroy the recently refurbished Old Courthouse and the few other buildings, in what was left of a town that was once home to thousands of gold miners. In the footage I saw, both sides of the road appeared severely burnt, although most buildings were on the low-side of the road. Some huts not too far away, were also destroyed. Pieces of history lost. The more major resorts, like Thredbo, Jyndabyne, Guthega, have thus far, been spared. Also under threat is the small town of Adaminaby, home of the Big Trout. Hopefully the town and residents will remain safe. No doubt the fire has damaged much of the beautiful environment in The Kosciuszko National Park and it's fauna. Mr. urn. .
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usrightnow_Again
6 years ago
It's great that some parts of the east coast are seeing a bit of rain, although it has been hit and miss, with north eastern Victoria and south eastern New South Wales receiving relatively little. Hopefully it will extinguish any remaining fires in northern and coastal NSW, some of which have been burning for months. . There are however, a couple of new points of concern. Firstly, run-off can cause soil movement, like localised landslides. Secondly, ash entering water courses and resevoirs, can lead to algal blooms during the warm weather, especially when these have less water in them than usual. . The other area of concern is with regard to how to remove and manage asbestos in areas where property has been damaged by the fires. I saw on the news last night, that a tip in one of the affected areas was going to accept asbestos, however, it's important it is removed and transported carefully and that the areas it was removed from are adequately cleaned. If you are in a fire affected area, stay safe. . Mr. urn. .
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