It is deep regret that I hear of the loss of life and see the devastation that the fires in Australia have caused. I have visited Australia and found the Australians to to be a good, and hospitable people, for whom I have high reguard and respect. In 1970 the Australian Army occupied the immediate right flank to my Brigade. Everyone was proud to have them there. I take the recent loss of life and sorrow the fires have caused in a personal way.
Ralph Izard
One news report this morning said over 180 souls lost. An appalling stat. Sorry to hear about it, too. There are some Aussies on this board. Please keep us posted, mates!
These fires are always terrible, especially in light of what is being said in the news as to their cause. A terrible waste.
All of Australia is deeply affected. Sadly, the death toll is likely to rise, with the Army and the Police still to search over 750 burnt out homes. Whole towns are just gone....and the fires continue......
Here in Queensland we have different problems.....floods! Over a million square kilometres are flooded. The Queensland outback is a vast inland sea. Towns and farms cut off, only supplied by air. People on their way from A to B stranded and trapped for weeks on end.....some northern Queensland towns had over 1,000 mm ( 40 inches) of rain in 48 hours.......
The death toll is now around 200 and expected to rise....over a million acres (404865 Hectares) are now totally destroyed....24 fires still burn out of control with winds of 50-75 km per hour (31-48 MPH ) expected today.Fire fronts can and do move at these speeds. Several towns put on alert for 'heavy ember attack'. A survivor described a 'heavy ember attack' as like being in a hailstorm made of fire.
If one wonders at why so many died, you must imagine 'Firestorms' heavier than those of WW II - walls of fire hundreds of feet high at intensely hot temperatures, fanned by winds artificially enhanced by convection currents, and moving at 80 km per hour (50 MPH), jumping roads, rivers etc.....absolutely unstoppable by anything human......
It's on the news here all the time. Horrible! I hope all RATers and their loved ones are safe abd that they catch the idiots who - it was reported anyway - set some of those fires (
hock: :? )!
The autorities have now arrested one individual in relation to arson. Why anyone would want to light a fire on a 46 degree c day is beyond all our understanding. A big thanks to all the Kiwi and US firefighters helping us at the moment. This has now become our worst natural disaster. Thankfully all my friends are safe but there are so many shattered lives . An estimated 1 milllion native animals have perished, no one knows how many domestic animals at this stage. The CFA volunteers have done an amazing job fighting this horror. Despite their efforts whole towns have been wiped of the map.
It is a real mess. I saw a picture of a town where all the houses had burnt down, but the trees around them were still green. That is bewildering ! :?
Quote:This has now become our worst natural disaster
Arson isn't really a "natural" disaster. It's a
crime, and the perpetrator(s) must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If convicted, he/they should receive whatever the maximum sentence Australia allows.
If it were up to me, I'd say burning him alive would not be out of the question, but of course, it isn't, so
he should be glad I'm not King. Whatever the motive was needs to be found out and made public.