And then there were none....

I have a certain reaction to natural disasters. It's a pattern that has formed over the past couple of years, and may stem from certain childhood events - but lets leave that to the psychiatrist to decide.

The Victorian bush fires, the Toodyay bush fires 2009 and now the QLD floods... I NEED, and it is a need, to watch as much news, read as many articles, surf as many social networking and news websites as possible to satisfy my attempt to understand and process what is going on. It's not just natural disasters - I do it with all things I do not understand, but because the QLD floods are top of mind, this is what I am referring to.

During the Victorian bush fires, I was running a radio station in Central NSW, and had a lot of friends, and indeed workmates who were being directly affected by them. We worked hard to put together truck loads of supplies - fencing, bedding, pet food etc to travel down to the affected areas, and obviously keeping our listeners up to date with what was happening down there. So clearly it was part of my job to stay on top of the situation, but it definately fulfilled a personal need as well.

The Toodyay fires directly affected me. My parents were evacuated and two of my children were staying with them at the time. They got out fine, but we spent many frantic hours hoping that the house wouldn't burn down. For quite a while, we were sure it was gone. They kept telling us our street had been impacted by the fire and simply had to wait it out until they finally let us back into the area. Thankfully - the house survived - we were very lucky - a lot more lucky than many. 38 properties were lost in that fire. And when the town has 3500 residents, there is no way you don't know someone who has been affected.

As for the floods - well again I know people in the area - Toowoomba, and many friends in Brisbane. The sheer magnitude of the devastation is hard to comprehend - who knew water could do so much damage??? As someone who has never been through anything even remotely resembling a flood, it's hard to understand. But the pictures coming out of Toowoomba and Grantham speak for themselves. This water was deadly. And many people have ended up losing their life as a result.

I think what strikes me the most is the stories. Clear as if it happened yesterday I remember certain people who lost friends, neighbours, relatives in the Victorian bush fires. Like the grandmother who got out of her house but some of her children and grandchildren stayed inside... and perished. A split second decision that cost so many lives.

Or the mother and her children who sought refuge in the river with a rescue vehicle... barely able to breathe through the thick smoke, she could only pray that her infant daughter would live through the ordeal.

In Toodyay no lives were lost thank goodness - but there were still plenty of stories of people who had no idea they were in danger until they opened the front door and realised their doorstep was on fire - piled into a car but took a wrong turn and found them self heading into the fire instead of away from it so had to scramble back to their house and just sit there while the fire burned all around them thinking... believing... that their time had come.

Or property owners being allowed back onto their land to find groups of cows and sheep horrifically burned but still alive, and having to shoot everyone of their livestock.

And the floods....

James - a father and husband - clinging to the roof of their car with wife and child in the middle of nowhere - spotted by a news helicopter and finally the mother and child winched to safety - but had to return for James... and when they did he was nowhere to be found... the chances of a happy ending to that story get more remote by the minute.

The 4 year old child being carried to a boat slips out of the rescuers hands and is swept away... the family trapped in their house, screaming, as their house is swept downstream. The parents, washed away while saving their two children.... the stories go on and on.

This post is in dedication to all those who have lost their lives in the increasing number of natural disasters in not just this country but the world.

And they are increasing. I do not believe that these events are in any way random. Mother Nature is sending a very clear message. DO SOMETHING, or you will be exterminated.
Will you help to make a difference? Will I?

For tonight at least - I hope. Hope for a better tomorrow.