OT - Prayers needed - Bushfire disaster Aust

[dsm]

We have just been hearing on our local news about 500 homes lost & 40 people dead with the toll rising all the time.
This is all happening in Victoria although both SA & NSW are experiencing record heatwaves.
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

Thanks

DSM

This news is now behind but highlights how bad things looked this morning.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/alm ... 32317.html

#2 Toll now 50 people lost

[JeffH]

That made our local news here in Oklahoma in the States. Said the temps were up to 117f! Sending you guys good thoughts.

JeffH

[Kiralynx]

Saw this this morning and have been thinking about you folks all day.

Wish I could send you the rain we had last week.

[kebsa]

I in South Australia, thankfully we have not been affected too badly at this stage but after 2 weeks of temps around 110 to 117 and an on going serious drought, we are all holding our breathes! I am at work at the moment and we have the TV on in the background and can see the terrible fires in Victoria- its alsmt like a fire storm and the death toll is up to 65 and still rising- 18 people in one small town- one man put his kids in the car and turned his back for a moment to grab something else and when he looked back at the car it was in flames and the 2 kids perished- thats how quick these fires are moving! someareas look like they have been subjected to a nuclear bomb- everything is just burnt to a crisp!

at the moment around 700 homes have been gutted and around 3500 people are homeless adn they are saying these are very conservative numbers that are likely to rise

any prayers and good thoughts would not go astray

[kopoloff]

Its pretty grim here, we've just heard that there are 76 confirmed casualties, and this is most likely going to get worse. Hundreds of families have lost their houses, their cars, pets, stock and businesses.

Bushfires are a fact of life here in Victoria, and also in South Australia, but not on this scale. Every year there are fires, but every so often (1939, 1962, 1983 and now 2009) there is a confluence of really bad conditions and we have a real disaster. This is the worst we've ever experienced. High wind, low humidity, very hot (yesterday it was 118 deg F) and prolonged drought conditions meant that it was quite predictable which is really no consolation.

The heroes in this are the volunteer firefighters who risk their lives to protect lives and property.

I live in an inner suburb of Melbourne, so not affected. The nearest fires are about 30 miles away, but there's a lot of smoke around the city.

Everyone here is shocked and sad, so your kind words are much appreciated.

K

[kebsa]

K
I vividly remember the ash wednesday fires in 1983, i almost got caught up in them- we had a lot of deaths from that. WHat has been worrying me is that the weather conditions have been exactly like that day, extreme heat teamed up with very strong winds- this year has been made worse by the long drought- i have been half expecting to have major bush fire problems here too- As we know quite often these fires are deliberately started. Itshard to imagine that queensland is in strife because of floods!

they have said that they suspect that at least some of the fires in victoria have been deliberately lit, i am not a supporter of the death penalty but in these kinds of situations it is very tempting to say that it should be an option- its premeditated murder!- i'll get off my high horse now!

[kopoloff]

I think an appropriate penalty for someone responsible for a tragedy like this would be to send them back into their community

K

[kopoloff]

The Melbourne Age has an extensive online coverage at http://www.theage.com.au/ for those who are interested

K

[Bluebonnet_Gal]

My heart goes out to all who are affected and my prayers are with you!

[kebsa]

OK, now i have lost it, the story of the man who loaded his kids in the car to escape then turned his back for a moment to get something else only to turn round to see the car now engulfed in flames and the kids gone- that was bad. Then there is the story of the prominent retired tv news man whose song was killed in a plane crash no long ago- now the news reader and his wife have been confirmed dead in the blaze. But as sad as all these deaths are there are many others with severe burns- I have just read a story about how some residents had gone back after the fire had ripped through the town to see if anyone was in strife- they found a man still in flames! they dragged him to one of the few houses still standing and took him into the Backyard swimming pool- each of these people took it in turns to hold this man in the water, to keep him from drowning- they did this for over 6 hours until rescue teams could get to them- the man is now in an induced coma with burns to most of his body-there have been 40 people admited to burns units so far (20 to one hospital) The management of severe burns in a grueling process- it takes multiple health care workser to deal with one patient when they first arrive and to have to deal with 20 severe burns cases coming in within a short time- that is hard for me as na RN to comprehend! The one "good" thing i guess is that after the Bali bombings a few years back we were faced with a similar event and many of them came here to Adelaide others to Perth but only after nurses and Drs from around the country had flown to bali to stabilise them- the knowledge that was gained in that disaster is going to pay dividends now.

I am sorry for those who have lost every thing and for the loss of life but in some ways the pain and suffering that these burns victims will go through is jsut hell on earth> K said if they find the buggers that lit these fires they should be sent back into the communities they have desimated- i agree, but i don't think they would last very long at all!- I think i had better stop reading these reports, as a nurse i used to be able to turn my feelings off when the need arose to get through a tough spot but since being wheelchair dependant after losing a leg and then developing MS- i wear my heart on my sleeve and i just blub my heart out. I have experieced life after a serious trauma but nothing to compare with this and yet i know how it affected me- my heart goes out to all of them and i know that guys are having a tough time with severe cold- we may be smart but we cannot beaat mother nature

[Slinky]

My heart and fervent prayers go out to all Aussies suffering thru these horrendous fire and losses of life and property. The excruciating pain those severely burned will endure for what must seem an eternity to them haunts me. God bless Victoria and all of Australia!!!

[Hawthorne]

I am hearing of and reading about this disaster in Australia through the Canadian News media.

All my cpaptalk.com forum friends are in my thoughts and prayers, as well as some good friends I have in Melbourne who just returned home from a visit here to Canada and all Australians living through this.

Is a terrible time. Please know that I am saddened by the news and hopeful that things can be controlled and over soon and that no more damage is done and no more lives are lost.

[LoQ]

This is so awful. I read about it in the news, and my heart goes out to all the victims. There just is no way to adequately describe circumstances like this.

I will pray for you all. May God keep you and yours safe, and comfort the victims in the midst of this terrible tragedy.

[dsm]

Tragedy like this levels us all. The horror of these fires happening now in Victoria is the speed with which the fire has been racing along & wiping out complete townships. Even experienced bush firefighters have been stunned by the speed & spread.

In regard to the US only last month I was looking through photos of the extraordinary flooding in WA state USA. Townships under water, roads & rail washed away, cars buried. & then months back the wildfires in CA.

Here in Aust we have two extremes going on - massive & widespread flooding in qld & the fires ravaging Victoria. South Australia had some record temperatures a couple of weeks back but seemed to avoid the fire damage. NSW is having fires but thus far tragedy has been avoided. Today Sydney is overcast & showers are forecast & the hope is the fires just north of Sydney will die out enough to be brought under control, but it seems there isn't much relief yet for Victoria were death toll has exceeded 100. Australia's worst natural disaster.

The story of the man and his kids in the car is one that has distressed many people. There are a lot of other stories of cars colliding with each other & with fallen trees in the thick smoke as people tried to get away but failed. Many thanks to all who have offered their thoughts & prayers - there are so many people in need of them at the moment.

DSM

[junie]

This is so sad, sending prayers and hugs,