OT - Prayers needed - Bushfire disaster Aust

[crossfit junkie]

My thoughts and prayers are with ALL in fire zones right now-Eckhart Tolle says "the present moment is sometimes unacceptable and aweful"-However, somehow we have to learn how to accept it and work WITH it and not against it; Only then can our lives be transformed. None of us know WHY these tragedies happen. I have difficulties in life accepting things-it's hard not to fight again the tide. Let-Go-Let God.
CFJ

[dsm]

Sadly, a well respected sleep expert, Prof. Rob Pierce (head of the institute of sleep and breathing, Austin Health), was killed when he and his family attempted to save their property. His wife and son were able to escape. I am deeply saddened as Rob was a close colleague to our department. Only last week we had our annual sleep meeting/discussion with many other sleep/upper airway experts in attendance. Rob will be missed by many. RIP

Sorry to hear that - am guessing he was in Victoria as I know you are in Adelaide. My daughter & her 4 children moved there (Mt Barker) 4 weeks ago from NZ & they are really feeling the heat. Luckily SA has avoided the problems Vic is having.

DSM

PS We are hearing toll now over 170 & heading towards 200 as the authorities are able to get into the various areas.

With Kingslake (the worst hit town) the national radio station went on air to warn the residents of Kingslake to be ready (a service provided via the bushfire authorities), the fire had already raced through the town & destroyed it beforehand. Thats how quickly it hit them.

[split_city]

Sadly, a well respected sleep expert, Prof. Rob Pierce (head of the institute of sleep and breathing, Austin Health), was killed when he and his family attempted to save their property. His wife and son were able to escape. I am deeply saddened as Rob was a close colleague to our department. Only last week we had our annual sleep meeting/discussion with many other sleep/upper airway experts in attendance. Rob will be missed by many. RIP

Sorry to hear that - am guessing he was in Victoria as I know you are in Adelaide. My daughter & her 4 children moved there (Mt Barker) 4 weeks ago from NZ & they are really feeling the heat. Luckily SA has avoided the problems Vic is having.

Yeah Rob lived in Victoria (St. Andrews). Rob was a well respected sleep researcher and has been a co-investigator with our group on many projects.

As mentioned before, we here in South Australia have been extremely lucky to get away with any significant bushfires given the extreme conditions we have experienced over the last few weeks.

[bearcatx16]

Greetings All,

I have heard from a friend in Australia who provided the following link, to help those in need as a result of the fires. I thought I would share it here. http://salvos.org.au/

My prayers continue for those who are being victimized by the fires.

Blessings,

Fred

[dsm]

To our good American friends a heartfelt thanks !!! - national news here in Aust just announced that 60 US firefighting specialists are being deployed to Victoria to help & support the authorities & people there.

We are very grateful and impressed by such a significant team. The symbolism of such a big commitment is not lost on us here. You folk are very close to us.

Cheers

DSM

(my native & nearby New Zealand (I am 50/50 Aussie/Kiwi) have sent 14 of their specialists too.

#2 Later news reports called them 'recovery specialists' ?

[roster]

Of course the emphasis is on humans, but one firefighter did take a minute to help a koala:

[rested gal]

Have been following the news, too, -- so sorry to hear about the lives lost and people displaced.

[goose]

If anyone has time for a prayer please direct them to the poor folk still in trouble as this crisis will last a few more days

Good vibes have been heading your way for some time Doug - I have friends in Oz who, fortunately, are not in any imminent danger, but 42 and 43 degrees for an extended time is not fun!!!!!! It's also all over the news here....
As a part-time former wild land firefighter, my heart goes out to all those affected by the disaster, on both sides of the hose (critters included)!!!!

cheers
goose

[dsm]

If anyone has time for a prayer please direct them to the poor folk still in trouble as this crisis will last a few more days

Good vibes have been heading your way for some time Doug - I have friends in Oz who, fortunately, are not in any imminent danger, but 42 and 43 degrees for an extended time is not fun!!!!!! It's also all over the news here....
As a part-time former wild land firefighter, my heart goes out to all those affected by the disaster, on both sides of the hose (critters included)!!!!

cheers
goose

Goose thanks & as mentioned we are very impressed by US support at all levels.

We are being warned to expect the toll to go as high as 300 dead as they get back into the areas & find all the missing people. We are not being told why the number will be that high but my guess is the authorities now have some indication of who is still missing & they are putting 2 + 2 together to est the final toll.

DSM

[gasparama]

This is a heart breaking story. I've been praying for you Aussies and wish you all the best for you.

Jane

[hawkwind]

Our hearts and prayers are with our brothers and sisters in Australia.

[dsm]

Have been following the news, too, -- so sorry to hear about the lives lost and people displaced.

RG & others - thanks for the kind thoughts - the aftermath in terms of blame is unfortunate & there are a lot of very frustrated people who have lost a lot & some are showing the strains. There also appear to be a few sorry souls who started fires incl one resident of a town that got hit.

I prefer to see the good being done as that is overwhelming - many millions of $ raised very quickly - people coming from oseas to help etc:

DSM

[kebsa]

DSM,
the reason they suspect that the toll may reach 300 is at partly due to the absolute devastation that has hit Marysville, while initally Kingslake has been considered to be the hardest hit area, it seems that Marysville has unfortunately claimed that. Kinglake did not get a great deal of warning due to the sheer speed that these fires were moving at but it seems Marysville had no warning at all of the imminet risk- from survivors accounts, yes, they could see smoke from the fires within a reasonable distance but not that close. One Resident and her husband told of how they attemted to ring for information but could not get through as the lines were obviously over loaded and they tried to look at the CFA website to see if they were considered to be at risk and there was no warninf and yet it was only minutes later that they were in the midst. Another resident who had a studio as he is a keen musician, had been in his studio when he happened to look up and saw that the flames were all around him. They suspect that the toll in Marysville could pass 100 simply because of the sheer speed that it hit- When the survivors spoke of the fact there were no warnings it was not in the way of an accusation but an kind of resignation of just how ferrocious this fire was. Poor Marysville has just about been wiped of the map! There are still a lot of residents, whole families who are unaccounted for.

I work in the state communication centre in Adelaide SA where, the triple 000 calls for ambulance come through, i am often amazed at how well the call takers deal with some very harrowing calls with calm and professional control, but we have been hearing how their counterparts in Victoria, firstly had a volume of calls that has never been experienced before and then how the call takers have actually been on the phone with callers as they perished in the fires- please spare a thought for them too! The way they have continued to support the victims in such horrific circumstances is just amazing!

It is gratifying to see the way that countries like th US, New zealand have been quick to provide valuable expertiese, even Indonesia has offered to assist in the process of victim id based on expertiese they gained with the Bali bombings in 2002. Their is something about events like natural disasters that can bring out the very best in most people. Times are tough and many people are not sure about how long they will have jobs and yet people have been incredibly generous!

[goose]

As kebsa said, these kinds of events seem to bring out the best in human nature. It is very heartwarming to experience the generosity of others, even in bad times.
It's kind of a basic acknowledgment that we're all in this thing together, and this time I do for you, next time it may be me that needs the assistance.
As a Ham Radio operator and former wild land (bush land) firefighter I have experienced many many desperate situations and I'm always amazed at the humanness exhibited by neighbors, friends and people from everywhere.....

In the Santa Cruz mountains - the Lexington fire that burned from San Jose almost to the coast (30+ km), people came out of the woodwork to help. In 1982 we had a rain that in some micro-climates a meter of rain fell in 24-36 hours (my home had 16 inches (40cm) of rain in one 18 hour period) - many hillsides didn't stay put, including one right next door to my home and there were 16 people killed in mudslides -- we didn't have water for 7 days and didn't have power for 10+ days. People came out in places there was no access, but they hiked in to provide assistance. In 1989 we had the Loma Prieta earthquake (for my place it was about 6miles (10km or so) from the epicenter). Again, it was 10 days with no water, many more without power - I actually didn't see my home for almost a week because of volunteer radio operations - funny how all the millions spent on infrastructure fails in the first 48-72 hours of any disaster, but those of us that use battery radios can continue to communicate effectively -- but again, people came from all over to assist those who were affected - my son and his girlfriend came up and cleaned up my house unbeknown to me...
Just examples of the finer human response seen during disaster. I won't go into the dark side, of looting and other negatives, because they are the things that are accentuated in the media....proving something I learned in college journalism -- "good news doesn't sell newspapers".

Good vibes and I'm sure many prayers are still making their way to Oz and the people who most need them.....
Thanks for the update DSM and kebsa.
Take care
cheers
goose