Bushfires to be Followed by Thunderstorms
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381837)
Rockingham, Australia
January 9, 2016 1:08am CST
Some of my friends here will remember I wrote about the huge bushfire that is burning out of control to the north of us. Vince and I are keeping a eye on the government's Fire and Emergency Services (FESA) Alerts and Warnings website. Now another town has been told to evacuate but the latest warning is for thunderstorms and risk of flooding in susceptible areas. Storms are forming in the far north but are expected to head south before nightfall. Perhaps the expected rains will help with the control of the fire.
Extreme situations like this bring out the best and worst in people. One man stayed to defend his home, describing fireballs and immense heat and winds. He saved his and his neighbour's house and the house across the road. It is a shame though that he saw fit to criticise the FESA workers, saying none had been down his street and that he'd saved three houses with none of their fancy equipment. I thought that was a bit harsh. They would have been working their butts off elsewhere and the first order for FESA and volunteer fire-fighters is 'don’t put yourself at risk'. This guy did a great job but perhaps he just got lucky.
The website doesn't give any real news, just warnings and alerts. Consequently anyone who hears anything, substantiated or not, puts it up on Facebook. Most of this doesn't really help either as sometimes the news is grossly exaggerated or simply without a shred of truth. But it all preys on the shell-shocked minds of people who might have had to leave their homes with very little warning. I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I've never had to go through a catastrophe but I always feel for those facing tornadoes and hurricanes. It must be very traumatic.
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14 responses
@LadyDuck (502208)
• Italy
9 Jan 16
You are right Judy, surely the man did a great job, but who can say if he has also been lucky. The house of my grandparents were flooded in 1969, they had 2 meters of water inside the house and it took a full week to go away, you can imagine how the house was when they were able to go back.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 16
@LadyDuck I have seen TV footage showing people moving things upstairs when there is a flood. There aren't a lot of two storey houses in Australia although there are more than there used to be. In Queensland in the flood areas they often build them as two storeys.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 16
@TheHorse I think most would go if ordered to by the police. The trouble is - sometimes they order people out at what seems far too early when the danger doesn't appear very great but I guess they've have traffic jams otherwise. Then, if nothing happens, they often won't let them go back to their homes for ages. People get pretty stroppy about it all.
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@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
10 Jan 16
I hope the rains help and that before too long they are able to contain the fire.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 16
I'm not sure how much rain they had as we were away for the night. The fire is still burning and all the same alerts are in place at the moment.
@IreneVincent (15960)
• United States
9 Jan 16
This all sounds very disturbing. I hope you will be safe. I'm sorry for those who are losing their homes. What a disaster this is!! I haven't really heard anything about it on International news. I'm surprised about that. I watch the news channel every night. Perhaps the rain will help
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 16
Maybe it's not huge news on an international scale. Or perhaps it was just lower in importance so didn't make the news.
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
9 Jan 16
I've just been reading about Yarloop - sounds very bad, although the worst may be over. Misinformation can be a killer - it's usually best to stay away from social media at times like this, I think.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jan 16
That's true. People sensationalise things at the drop of a hat. Yarloop would be a low socio-economic region - cheap rents, small country town, near an huge refinery. We heard the fire hydrants wouldn't work - but that's social media again. I'm sure some wouldn't have had insurance and so it goes.
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@Shiva49 (28371)
• Singapore
11 Jan 16
It should indeed be traumatic for you. Hope the storms prove godsend to help put out the fires raging out of control. I remember reading about bushfires near Melbourne that caused even deaths few years back. Regarding how some people react, I recall my relatives detailing how much the army risked their own lives to help them during floods in Kashmir. It was an eye opener for them and also how the very poor were willing to share their ration of bread - siva
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