Carol phoned me and said that there are bush fires 5 km away from her place.
Apparently they are not in any immediate danger, and it's not quite like Kinglake in that the fires are less likely to spread at the blink of an eye, but still. All their artwork's packed just in case...
I've noticed while watching the news coverage about the Victorian bushfires that NBN has been playing a lot of Coldplay music in the background of their reports (also a bit of Tears for Fears, but not nearly as much). I found that odd, until this morning I see that the band's touring here soon.
Is this a case of product placement I wonder? Not, of course that the music's inappropriate unnecessarily. Playing instrumental versions of Where do we go from here isn't that out of line. But I wonder all the same.
Maybe Dragonforce's Through Fire and Flame would be just as appropriate.
Brian Naylor, retired Australian TV presenter, died recently in the Victorian bushfires. Naylor and his wife Moiree were found dead after fire destroyed their property at Kinglake.
He presented the Melbourne edition of National Nine News from 1978 until 1998, and also hosted Carols by Candlelight on ten occasions.
Over a hundred others have died in these fires as well, but I don't know their names or faces.
According to the news on TV, the death toll from the Victorian bushfires has risen to 108, and is expected to be more. As one anchorman put it, there are so many burnt out homes with cars still parked in the drive way - the implication being that they'll find dead bodies inside.
Carol lives in Daylesford, which is away from the main blaze. I think though, I'll phone and see how she is.
Last night I decided to watch American Pie which was showing as the late film on NBN. In the middle of it a marquee scrolled across stating that 14 were dead due to bushfires in Victoria. This afternoon I heard that the totalw as npw 65 dead, and 700 homes lost!
I didn't realise until my mother phoned just now that there are fires up near Singleton. Hopefully they're just isolated outbreaks and not the work of an arsonist, like some of the Victorian ones. Bring on that cool change!
Also, Mum mentioned:
Boy, 5, feared taken by croc in far north QueenslandApparently the kid followed his dog into flood waters and that's when it got him. Yes, Australia's all full of safe animals, isn't it?
Can't wait until this Summer's over.
The current temperature at Barnsley is 37° with a 2km/h wind and 22% humidity. Oddly enough that's bearable if I stay inside with the fans on (I swapped the pedestal with the floor fan and the study is cooler now). But I won't be going out side much. No shopping today!
The one week forecast is (taken from OzForecast)...
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The heatwave that dominated most of last week is still a threat, as listed at this Google News page. Things that struck me:
Ambulance crews in Victoria will today be on high alert, trains in NSW will slow down in case the heat causes tracks to buckle, and police in South Australia will be monitoring known fire bugs.
Fire-fighters across the three states, and in the ACT, are bracing for a devastating weekend as record high temperatures, gusty winds and parched earth combine to produce an unprecedented fire danger.
Sydney is today blanketed in smoke carried from a bushfire on the NSW central coast.
In Victoria, a fire in the Bunyip State Forest east of Melbourne breached containment lines overnight, much sooner than expected.
meanwhile...
The Queensland State Emergency Service is still rescuing sick and elderly residents from homes in Ingham as flood waters slowly subside.
Sixty per cent of the state is now disaster declared and while rains have eased in some areas, a large low pressure system off the coast is expected to generate more heavy falls in coming days.
The Herbert River in Ingham is dropping slowly with the latest forecast predicting the flood level will decrease a metre by midnight. More heavy rain is forecast between Townsville and Mackay, but the threat of another cyclone off Cairns has eased.
The Australian Army has begun flying fuel into Ingham, as the north Queensland town faces its fourth day cut-off by flood waters. The Bruce Highway is still cut to the north and south of Ingham.
I did see news items on the TV about Crocodiles and snakes being spotted in the flooded areas. Good fun!
Here's yesterday's Maximum temperature map:
Don't'ya just love Australia's climate?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zvi and krja
