Victoria was subject to a pretty major windstorm overnight. No serious rain came with it, but very strong winds, just as the Bureau forecast. Lots of SES jobs.
We had calls to 6 jobs where we are – some we passed to the council, one we couldn’t find, but we did a few ourselves too. Busy for a few hours.
One advantage we have in the rural area is a much lower population and housing density, so windstorm doesn’t affect us as much as urban areas. Trees falling in the bush aren’t a problem unless they block a road, but in heavily built up areas every falling tree has some impact on someone. City units are always busier than we are in windstorm.
How come this is what I was driving through in Australia in January? The weather this past 12 months has been totally cock-eyed.
For those of you who don’t live down under, we’re having some seriously wet weather right now. Central Victoria has had a HUGE amount of rain during the second half of the year.
Our water catchments were looking pretty bare in the middle of the year, but right now, every catchment within a few hundred kilometres of where I live is pretty much full. Some have taken on so much water they’ve opened floodgates for the first time in a decade.
Melbourne’s catchments are over 50% full (current figure here), but that’s actually slightly skewed because the Thomson dam is still only at 35%, and it’s seriously, seriously huge (nearly 50,000 hectares, and 60% of the total catchment area).
We’ve had yet more rain today, and the saturated ground just can’t hold any more water. Any rain at all and we’ve got puddles everywhere.
The weather report for the next three days is looking pretty dire. The bureau have forecast somewhere between 50 and 150 millimetres of rain for most areas of the state and have a whole slew of warnings current. Those of us who are volunteers in the State Emergency Service are on high alert and ready to do whatever we need to to manage the floodwaters.
The radar isn’t looking too bad right now, but there’s more to come.
Anyone who does live in Victoria need to remember a few basic things:
- Don’t walk, swim or drive through floodwater. This is the single biggest cause of flood related deaths. Last floods (3 weeks ago) somewhere north of 30 cars were washed away in floodwater.
- Don’t shelter under trees. High winds and totally saturated ground means trees are falling over a lot, and you don’t really want to be under a gum tree when it topples over.
- There’s a bunch more information on the SES FloodSafe website.
If you do get in trouble, call 132 500 for emergency assistance.
Today is the anniversary of the terrible bushfires of 7th February, 2009. The fires left 173 people dead and over 400 injured.
Twelve months on there are still scars left on the land, throughout the towns that were directly affected, and in the hearts and minds of the people who experienced the ferocity of nature at its worst.
Maryborough, where we live, was fortunate. Although we didn’t have a single fire in the area that day, Lisa and I clearly remember the sense of dread that hung in the air. The weather bureau had been warning about the day being an extreme fire risk for some time. As soon as dawn broke we could sense in the heat and strength of the wind and by the look of the sky that the day would be every bit as bad as predicted.
Some of the things I’ve heard from various SES and CFA volunteers over the last 12 months have been grim. When you’re in the way of a 1300°C fire front that travels 32km in 8 minutes you simply don’t stand a chance. I cannot imaging how the people of Strathewen, Kinglake, Marysville and countless other towns and hamlets felt as their communities were decimated by an inferno that transformed day to night, turned homes to dust and tore apart families and friendships.
Lesson have certainly been learnt. Communities are rebuilding, emergency services are better prepared and people are more aware of how devastating, unpredictable and uncontrollable fires of that scale can be. Faced with another event of this magnitude, things will be different. People will leave homes much earlier, and those who bravely choose to stay and defend have a clearer picture of what they’ll be battling against.
As much as it will be sad to remember the events of 7th February 2009, the anniversary will also be a reminder that as a community we have moved forward, we have learnt and grown and we have emerged stronger than before.
We’ll certainly pause for a moment and remember the 173 people who died, but we’ll also take heart in knowing that their loss has done much to improve the way we’ll deal with similar events in the future.
Today is a very wet day in Maryborough. The view outside our front door:
It was raining pretty solidly when I got up at 5:30am, and it’s only backed off in the last half hour or so. Four good hours of soaking rain. Lovely stuff.
Today was another day of strong winds with significant and widespread damage across Victoria. There’s more on the way, too. I just got the following page from the SES:
ATT: ALL MEMBERS – A series of damaging wind days has been predicted commencing on Sunday evening. An email has been sent to all Units that contains a detailed weather prognosis, in particular a significant severe weather event for Tuesday/Wednesday. Widespread damaging winds are predicted over a prolonged 48 hour period, with average wind speeds of 60-70km/hr, regular wind gusts of 100-120km/hr across the state with wind gusts reaching 150km/hr in the Alpine district.
Tie down anything important.
Over the weekend we had a pretty big storm front move across Victoria. Unlike the last storm event where our local SES unit had 40 odd calls, this time we had none. Some other areas of the state got hit pretty hard.
Like my parent’s back fence, for example:
I was planning to go down to the city today anyway; this just means I’ll have to take a few tools with me and try to rescue it as best I can until they can have it repaired/replaced. It looks like the timber is getting pretty rotten so I’m not sure that I’ll get it back 100% as it was. We’ll see.
The official number of lives lost so far is 108. Not all of the 750 destroyed homes have been search yet, so that number is bound to rise.
I spent yesterday dressed in orange over at Bendigo helping with traffic management (separating emergency vehicles and legitimate residents from sightseers.) The loss of homes was shocking. Whole streets have completely disappeared. It’s distressing to see family after family picking over burnt remains looking for anything that connects them to life before Saturday afternoon. It’s even worse knowing that the Bendigo fires (along with some others) were almost certainly deliberately lit. What kind of person does that?
Maryborough escaped the carnage. We were very lucky. Lots of people here know people affected though, but of course the magnitude of this fire event is such that everyone in Victoria will know someone who has been impacted. Lisa, the Kids and I are fine, and we’re so thankful for that.
If we can do anything for anyone affected by the fires, call me on 0448 358 208. We’ve got land that can house a horse or three (with water and shedding) and we’ll do anything else we can to help out.
As late as 23:30 tonight the CFA are still issuing urgent threat messages:
The Murrindindi Mill fire continues to burn in a north easterly direction. The communities of Taggerty, Acheron, Thornton, Rubicon, Snobs Creek, Eildon, Alexandra and Molesworth can expect thick smoke and ember attack. All residents in these areas are advised to activate their fire plans immediately and to remain on high alert.
An update on the Marysville township:
We understand that everyone is safe in Marysville and are assembled at Gallipoli Park. There are reports that a number of houses have been burnt, so stay tuned to ABC radio as further details come to hand.
I know this area so well! I have spent a lot of time around the north east of the state: Taggerty, Thorton, Buxton, Narbethong, Marysville and Alexandra. I know the area really well. To hear that a fire that started in Murrundindi has jumped across into the Rubicon Valley and destroyed houses is Marysville is staggering. That’s a fair way.
It’s been a while since I’ve been up that way, but I can picture exactly where Gallipoli Park is, so I can see the town and know where all the residents are standing.
It’s clear that even with the assistance of the cool change that has come through these fires will burn for another day or two at least. The CFA have already declared tomorrow a Total Fire Ban day; that page came through the SES around 10pm.
(Marysville Photo Credit: alistair_35@flickr).
Who said what?