3 summers later, nothing has changed regarding Bushfires

Three summers after the terrible bushfires of Black Saturday, people still think it won’t happen to them. People still think that bushfires only affect people on large allotments/farms, that bushfires only affect people who have farm animals.

People need to wake up.

If you live in an area adjacent to park land, adjacent to bushland, many trees around you. If you live in Doncaster, Doreen, Eltham, Greensborough, Inverloch, Mt Dandenong, Nutfield, Red Hill, Templestowe, Tynong, Warrandyte, Yarrambat. I’m sure you get my meaning, If there are lots of trees, lots of grass land or lots of bushland, YOU COULD BE AT RISK.

The emergency services may be under so much pressure they WILL NOT have time to warn you, the fire might be moving so fast, that the update service can not keep up.

YOU the resident, YOU the traveller MUST be accountable for your OWN safety at all times during the bushfire season.

Do not retreat inside, only to come out once the power goes out. By then it could very well be too late….. Too late to save you, too late to save your family, too late to save your animals, too late to get out.

Leave the radio on, listen to the radio, don’t rely on the internet, as the bushfire could have started next door, or just down the road.

Be responsible FOR YOU.

I have spoken to many people over the past 3 years and many live in areas that could very well be affected by bushfires. These people think it won’t happen to them.

One conversation sticks in my mind, “I said where do you live?” He said “Greensborough.” I said “Do you have a fire plan?” His response.. “Nope, don’t need one, I won’t be there when there’s a fire.”

I shook my head. What could I say? I mean why doesn’t HE need a fire plan? WHERE is he going to be? I was shocked beyond belief. He was a mature-aged man, obviously thought that there are enough emergency services around just to cater for him. That is all I could think of. (Insert stunned look here)

There is only ONE person responsible for YOUR safety and that IS YOU. Rely on no-one. Only YOU can save YOU (and your family)

Stay alert and stay safe from bushfires.

What to do if flooded out (or about to be) and the Return AFTER Flooding

I don’t write this post with humour, but sometimes you have to laugh even when you feel like crying.

I’ll put it in point form to try and make it easier to read, I know you are probably under stress.

1. Leave early, if you THINK you’ll be flooded out, or cut off. Don’t wait until the last minute when you may risk you and your familys’ lives

2. Take your cats and dogs with you. If you can’t, make sure they are wearing collars and ID’d to a mobile (not the house phone, you won’t be there)

3. If your animals are larger, a collar OR spray paint a mobile number on their hide. If your horses are wearing rugs, remove them, rugs impede the animals ability to swim and may get hooked up on fences.

4. Turn off gas, power and water

5. Block any sinks with the plug and then weigh down with a sandbag or something similar, this MIGHT stop sewerage coming back through the drains. (Including bathroom floor drains) Include toilet bowls in this also.

6. Take your phone and laptop chargers with you, you’d be surprised at the number of people who forget.

7. Take important documents and photos with you. Things like passports and family photos.

8. Take enough clothes and necessities to last a minimum of 7 days. everything from baby formula to knickers and shoes.

9. If you have room, take you computer Hard drive, leave the screen and keyboard, just the tower, if you haven’t backed anything up.

10. DO NOT cross bridges/causeways unless you know they are stable and the flow of water won’t impede your crossing

11. Notify family and friends when you are leaving, where you are going and what time you are to be expected (allow 1hr leeway) just in case. Call them when you arrive.

12. Make sure you take any medicine you may require

13. It might be some time before you can get back, empty the fridge and freezer, take the food with you OR give it to a neighbour who IS staying. Things gets very smelly with no electricity. Leave the doors open to stop smells and also if the house is flooded, will stop the fridge/freezer becoming a floating hazard outside the house.

13. If you are staying. A fridge only needs to be run from a generator 1 hour in every 4 hours. That’s enough to keep things below room temp and keep things longer.

14. DO NOT charge phones or laptops from a generator, fine electrical items like that, do not like the unstable charge of a generator.

15. A generator chews through fuel, so use as though you may not get fuel for a long time.

16. Use gas where possible for cooking or a BBQ for heating water etc. Water and electricity DO NOT Mix.

17. Boil your water as a precaution, once the water level is more than 1-2 inches deep. JUST in case sewerage has somehow managed to get into the water supply.

18. DO NOT let children play in the flood water, firstly you don’t know what’s dead upstream and secondly there may be a current you are not aware of. This also applies to adults, stay out of the water. The flood water may also contain raw sewerage from flooded septic tanks from council treatment plants.

19. Let the Red Cross know your movements, you are staying, you are going, the number of people ‘lost’ during the bushfires was a critical factor in the number of people initially reported as missing.

20. If you have reported someone missing and the located them, please inform the Red Cross and keep informing them until you see their name removed from lists. During bushfires this caused much distress amongst separated family and friends.

21. Emergency services MAY NOT be able to get to you IF you decide to stay, keep that in mind when making ANY decisions. It may mean no food OR fuel. Keep that in mind.

22. Don't forget you will need batteries and candles for when the power does goes out and also for radios to listen to what is going on in your local area. Whilst you have power charge your mobile and laptops etc, iPods for the kids. Usual routine, Expect the power to go out WITHOUT notice.

23. Solar Panels don't require electricity to work (that's their purpose) Therefore the panels and surrounding cables will be LIVE and could injury to yourself or even death. AVOID at all costs.

24. An old style phone (not requiring 240v) may also be beneficial, sometimes landlines are still working even when the power has gone out. Check your house wiring before assuming this is the case though

25. Check you neighbours, maybe they are elderly and too afraid to ask for help. Offer or do, or if needed bully them out with you. Sometimes you HAVE to do this. The guilt is not worth it after the fact.

26. Upon returning to your premises, assume the house is 'live' with electricity. DO NOT PLUG anything in, UNLESS the wiring has been checked by an electrician and given the all clear.

There may be other articles in this blog that may apply to your current position, Here is one regarding about managing without electricity. Residential Properties Having been through the bushfires, electricity seems so important that the time. You soon realise that not having electricity is not really that important after all. Once you know how to manage!

The Red Cross have published a PDF document that will assist in the cleaning up of flooded properties Cleaning up after Flooding - PDF

And for the geeks of the world, ben-geek has offered this advice Tips for Salvaging Flooded Computer Gear

If you would like to make a donation, 3AW in Melbourne have listed 5 different ways you can help 3AW - Donations Make sure any donations that you do make, are through official channels and that the money will go where intended.

Please take care out there, flooding is just as dangerous as fire.
#QLDFloods
#NSWFloods
#VicFloods

I’ve was never so scared

It was Thursday, the 26th November 2009, a storm warning was issued for Melbourne, I had been talking to people about a dust storm and then decided to check the BOM site for weather warnings. A storm warning had been issued, and no sooner had I sighted the warning, than it was upon us.

I rang my daughter, she is about 30km further north than where I am located and told me that she was okay but thinks the house had taken a direct lightening hit, as the door frames had turned blue and although she was shaken, she was okay. It was absolutely bucketing and windy. She was hanging up the phone to mop up the water that had entered the house. I was unsure as to how the water had entered to house. That was the least of my concerns.

I tried to ring back some 5-10 minutes later to check how everything was going and there was no answer. Tried the mobile. No answer. My heart is in my mouth. I’m sure as a parent – you are feeling worried also.

Ringing, ringing, ringing, no answer. Getting more worried as the seconds tick past. Start ringing the neighbours. No answer there either, start ringing the mobiles. No answer. I am seeing my house going up in smoke, with the neighbours trying to rescue my daughter.

I hit the panic button and ring my husband, telling him to get home NOW. There is no answer on any phones, the neighbours aren’t answering, the house was flooded. My imagination is running well and truly in overdrive.

Can’t leave work, the nation-wide servers have crashed, the phone system is down. Everyone is panicking!

Finally people from the street start calling/texting. Daughter is okay, the house is fine. 50mm of rain in 15 minutes,. Nothing could be heard apparently. Landlines are down, minor flooding, not sure about the roof, but daughter is alive.

(I had images of her, laying on the floor in a pool of water, dead)

By the time I get home, some 5 hours later, water cleaned up, roof not holed, one landline down, the other the only working one in the street. Neighbours are queuing up to use the phone to report the faults. It’s now Monday mod-morning and still no landlines, or internet.

But everyone is alive and well

(Update - phones re-instated Tuesday, apparently the lightening literally fried the wires in the ground, only left strands not bundles of wires! Still no strike site visible, but was extremely close)

Are you prepared to stay and defend or do you need to leave on “CODE RED” Days

Ask yourself these questions:-
1. Are you physically fit?
2. Are you mentally able to cope with the noise and possible devastation?
3. If you have children, do you have someone outside the area who can look after them?
4. Is your block surrounded by cleared lands?
5. Is your house roof clear of overhanging trees and branches?
6. Are you able to get onto the roof and block the gutters?
7. Is your house built on relatively flat land?
8. Is your house on a slab OR stumps? If stumps,is underneath of your house clear?


These are SOME of the things you MUST consider, There are many other factors to determine if you go or stay. It is not for me to determine your choice. Only YOU can make that choice.

If you answered Yes to the above Questions – then it is possible you have a better chance of saving your property.

If at any time in the past you have suffered from asthma or a heart condition, I believe you have to leave. I can’t stress this enough. The air is thick with smoke and flying embers, the heat is unbearable.

Here is a re-cap of all my posts over the last couple of weeks, from what to do and what not to do.
Things not to do when a bushfire is approaching
You can feel a sense of de-ja vu in the air
Things NOT to do when confronted by a bushfire
The Fire Season and the Procrastinator

Things to do months, weeks, years ahead of an approaching bushfire
Are YOU prepared for a bushfire?
Be Prepared or Prepare to Die
The threat of bushfires, your family and particularly home alone children
Children in the care of others, during CODE RED bushfire danger days (Victoria, Australia)
CODE RED affected schools (Victoria, Australia)
Fire bunkers – are they safe?
Caught in Car During a Bushfire
Animals and Bushfires

If you don’t feel able to stay and defend, leave, tell your neighbours, take your valuables with you, take your animals with you.

If you have water, let the local CFA know that you have water, if you are able – sign post that water, so the CFA are able to locate it. Don’t be selfish, it could be your house they are trying to save.

Take care and remember that the fire season of 2008/09 cost the lives of many and taught those that survived how to make survival a little easier.

Do not let their lives be in vain. Remember life is precious and family more so.

Take care out there

Be Prepared or Prepare to Die

The above words are harsh, they are cutting, they are mean, they sound ugly. They are all of those things and more, yet I DO NOT apologise. The post below is confronting, it is meant to be and I still make no apologies for it. You want to know why? Read on.

If you have been following this blog, you know that I was involved in some form fashion with the fires of the 7th February 2009, now known as the Black Saturday Fires, but what you don’t know is that I was also affected by the Ash Wednesday. Roads closed unable to get home, unable to contact my parents, didn’t know if they were alive or dead.

The fires of Black Saturday of which many (not all) where lit by criminals, sane or otherwise, caused the deaths of 173 people. This is a sad truth – that must never be forgotten. In saying that, many people were unaware that a fire was bearing down on them. They were unaware that they were in imminent danger.

Modern living has caused most of these problems, you cocoon yourself inside with the air conditioner, the computer or the TV in the vain hope of avoiding heat. In days gone past – you would often be out at the pool, out on the verandah, just out in the shade. The open skyline visible, the sense of smell working overtime. This is no longer the case.

Many people were not aware until the power went out that there was a problem. Many neighbours do not talk to each other. The extent of contact is waving as someone drives past in the mad rush of a morning.

This post here explains some of what happened and that we looked after everyone on our street that we could – everyone on the street made sure everyone knew who was doing what, those of us that cared and had a neighbourly spirit. “The threat of bushfires, your family and particularly home alone children” http://itaintalwaysso.blogspot.com/2009/10/threat-of-bushfires-your-family-and.html

The government is trying to make up for and prevent any further events like Black Saturday by instigating an SMS based warning system. This is a good thing, but it is not the be all and end all. There is something called personal responsibility – which again I have referred to in other posts. I won’t link here – but I am sure you will find it.

If YOU aren’t responsible for your OWN actions, who is? The government? Your parents? Your teachers? Your School? – Why? – ONLY YOU are responsible for YOUR actions, ONLY YOU can know the circumstances surrounding that decision. ONLY YOU can make the decision to go or stay when confronted by fire. ONLY YOU can decide if you are fit enough, both mentally and physically to withstand the onslaught of a bushfire. ONLY YOU.

What stands between you and death most of the time? ONLY YOU.

Please if you don’t feel comfortable staying and defending your property, take what you want to save and go visit someone in the suburbs. Go to the beach. It may never happen, but it could – Please be prepared to stay and fight OR be prepared to leave and live.

Weather

We curse it. We love it. We hate it. We love the sunshine, we hate the rain, we hate the sunshine, we love the rain.

The weather can do no right.

It seems no matter what the weather does it is wrong.

It rains and people complain that everything is wet and nothing dries. It rains and people say that it is ruining the outdoor events and causing traffic accidents and flooding.

If the sun is out, people complain it is too hot, people complain that it is too bright.

People are never happy with the weather.

What made me write this blog is that weather warnings have been issued nation-wide for Australia.

In February 2009 there was too much water in the Northern states and severe flooding occurred. In the Southern states it was too hot and there were massive bushfires that destroyed life and property.

El Nino is blamed for these weather patterns. Global warming is blamed for the El Nino. The blame lies with the weather so we are told.

Some people say that Mother Earth is just going through growing pains. Others are saying that we the humans are killing her.

Some say population control is the answer to everything, others say that air travel is the cause.

I don’t know about you – but I try and do my little bit for earth and for my neighborhood and my state and country. Some people call us mad, others say why bother.

The weather can not be controlled regardless of what scientists tell us.
Perhaps it is global warming, perhaps it is a thinning of the ozone layer.

Mother Earth is suffering, we all recognize that, but is it another stage of her growing up? Is this a warning of things to come?

Are we on the precipice of the decline of the human race?

The weather is nature and nature is harsh – we all know that. Perhaps now is the time to consider that the weather is not all it’s cracked up to be and perhaps it is no longer a ‘safe’ topic of conversation as it is was once considered.