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Post by deshacrafts on Jan 3, 2020 14:48:07 GMT
I've been wondering if any of our Australian and New Zealand peas have been affected by the fires there? I read the smoke is affecting New Zealand and turning the glaciers brown. Sending good thoughts to everyone there.
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Post by gillyp on Jan 3, 2020 14:56:55 GMT
It’s all horrendous and looks terrifying. How do you recover from such devastation. Smh. I hope all are safe and there’s no further loss of life. Worried about the wildlife too.
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Post by gar on Jan 3, 2020 15:17:06 GMT
I keep hearing horrific stats about how many acres have burned, hoe many homes have been lost, how many animals have died etc. How will they/you guys deal with it I wonder...it seems so utterly overwhelming!
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Post by malibou on Jan 3, 2020 16:32:50 GMT
I'm in So Cal in the area that keeps getting hit by wildfires and what is happening down under is terrifying. I so hope our peas and their families, friends and communities are safe.
Also keeping the terrifically brave people fighting this fire battle in my safest thoughts.
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Post by snoopy on Jan 3, 2020 17:13:35 GMT
I can’t imagine the fear and loss that people are facing as a result of these fires. I saw a heartbreaking photo of a tiny boy receiving a metal after his firefighter father was killed. I hope everybody can stay safe and that this will end soon.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,612
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Aug 29, 2014 18:57:20 GMT
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Post by hannahruth on Jan 3, 2020 17:37:47 GMT
The fires along the eastern coast are horrendous. Lives have been lost, properties burnt to the ground, livestock have died. The people afffected are suffering in unimaginable ways. I'm not sure how you ever get over something like this. If you ever do.
I am in South Australia and we have fires burning but not to the extent of the eastern states. From our home the smell of smoke is evident and it certainly makes you stop and think.
The eastern states are in a state of emergency and the army have been called in to assist the fire fighters. They are exhausted. Some of these fires have been burning since September and as some of the areas are also in drought many prayers have been said for the rain to come and put out the fires.
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Post by gar on Jan 3, 2020 17:51:13 GMT
some of the areas are also in drought many prayers have been said for the rain to come and put out the fires. Is any rain forecast? All I've seen is the expectation of another difficult day tomorrow
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sueg
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,019
Location: Munich
Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
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Post by sueg on Jan 3, 2020 18:11:37 GMT
some of the areas are also in drought many prayers have been said for the rain to come and put out the fires. Is any rain forecast? All I've seen is the expectation of another difficult day tomorrow The last I heard from my son in Victoria, they are not expecting much rain before the end of January at least.
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chendra
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,860
Location: The 33rd State
Jun 27, 2014 16:58:50 GMT
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Post by chendra on Jan 3, 2020 18:27:36 GMT
The images I've seen are nightmarish--red skies, people evacuating to the beach because there is no other place to go. How can anyone even breathe? I hope they can contain the fires soon.
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Post by gar on Jan 3, 2020 18:56:19 GMT
Is any rain forecast? All I've seen is the expectation of another difficult day tomorrow The last I heard from my son in Victoria, they are not expecting much rain before the end of January at least.
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Post by jameynz on Jan 3, 2020 19:05:16 GMT
my eldest DS lives in Sydney - he tells me not to worry, but I do.
He works on building sites, and every so often, the site is closed down due to the smoke, and the unsafe working conditions/air quality
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 4, 2024 14:51:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2020 19:29:57 GMT
Is any rain forecast? All I've seen is the expectation of another difficult day tomorrow The last I heard from my son in Victoria, they are not expecting much rain before the end of January at least. I sincerely hope that they are all safe and stay safe Sue. This must be an awful worrying time for you. My heart breaks at what people have gone through, they've lost everything except the clothes they stand up in. The beach photos were heartbreaking. Such devastation. I can't imagine where you would start putting your life back together after that kind of loss. It doesn't sound as if there is no end in sight either.
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marianne
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys. . . My monkeys fly!
Posts: 4,176
Location: right smack dab in the middle of SC
Site Supporter
Jun 25, 2014 21:08:26 GMT
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Post by marianne on Jan 3, 2020 20:35:03 GMT
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 3, 2020 20:45:35 GMT
The vastness and devastation of these fires is mind boggling. Hoping for the best for all our Australian peas.
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Post by auntkelly on Jan 3, 2020 21:31:19 GMT
Thinking of the Australian peas. It's hard to imagine how big these fires are.
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Post by bc2ca on Jan 3, 2020 21:37:53 GMT
Watching coverage of people fleeing to the beaches and boats is just awful. They kept saying it was midmorning, but my brain could not compute that because they were in such darkness.
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Post by jess on Jan 3, 2020 21:52:29 GMT
It's horrific. And whilst Aussies are generally really good at pulling together in a crisis, and certainly people will donate generously and continue acts of selflessness to help those in need, it feels like we're also spending a lot of time arguing over whose fault the fires are. Mainly along climate change lines. I don't think anyone can argue any more that this is part of the normal cycle in Australia.
I feel quite overwhelmed by it all and I'm abnormally indecisive. I have money to donate, but there are so many places that need it that I don't know where I want to donate it. I want to do something with my business in support but don't know how to do it without looking like I'm trying to use the situation for marketing purposes. We're supposed to be going on holiday tomorrow to a small beachside area. It's an hour and a half from the major fire front and it's not heading in that direction, but part of me feels we should cancel and part of me feels like they need people to still go and support their local economy.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jan 3, 2020 22:06:54 GMT
The biggest fires in my state are in coastal areas, which of course is where so many people are holidaying at this time of year. They've sent in a Navy vessel to evacuate up to 1000 people at a time from Mallacoota. I have friends who have been evacuated from another coastal town, and I'm waiting to hear back from another friend about her family, as the fires are only 25km (15 miles) from their town. There aren't any fires anywhere near me yet, thankfully. I can smell the smoke though. I can't complain though, NSW and Sydney has had to put up with the smokey air for weeks now. Looking at the fire maps, it seems like the whole freakin east coast is on fire. I saw a heartbreaking photo of a tiny boy receiving a metal after his firefighter father was killed. I hope everybody can stay safe and that this will end soon. I could hardly bear to finish reading the article, it was so heartbreaking! The man's son standing there with a little fire uniform on, he even had a dummy (pacifier) in his mouth - just a baby!
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Post by gar on Jan 3, 2020 22:52:53 GMT
The man's son standing there with a little fire uniform on, he even had a dummy (pacifier) in his mouth - just a baby! That was so poignant...it brought tears to my eyes
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zella
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,884
Jul 7, 2014 19:36:30 GMT
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Post by zella on Jan 3, 2020 23:15:53 GMT
I've seen two things in the last few days that are utterly mindboggling (as if the situation itself wasn't hard enough to comprehend). The first is how much land has been burned this season so far shown in comparison to some places across the world (scroll down for the interactive feature): firesAnd this article about how some of these fires are now making their own weather systems: weatherIt's sheer hell. I cannot imagine. And the number of animals estimated killed is 480 million. That is beyond tragic. And of course more dying all the time. I cannot conceive of the scope of this tragedy. There are no words, are there?
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Orangutan
Junior Member
Posts: 72
Location: Australia
Dec 21, 2019 6:03:37 GMT
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Post by Orangutan on Jan 4, 2020 0:49:29 GMT
It's an absolute nightmare on the east coast with no end in sight. I know a handful of people who are on alert but not under direct threat at this stage.
I'm in Western Australia so we are ok at the moment. That said we had a dreadful time 3 weeks ago where we nearly lost our home. I mentioned it on the previous thread about the fires. The weather was hot and windy and the fire just couldn't be controlled. I was evacuated for a week and DH was trapped at home during that time, which was a nightmare. The firefighters did an amazing job to mostly steer it around the properties. One house and business was lost on the first day and the only other damage was to fences. We were extremely lucky.
It's heartbreaking for the wildlife. We are rural so get lots of kangaroos etc in our garden. The new joeys all seem to have disappeared since the fire which makes me very sad.
Watching the news from NSW and VIC makes me realise how lucky we were but also makes me feel for them even more than just seeing news on the TV. I have a rough idea about what they are really going through.
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Post by stacmac on Jan 4, 2020 0:57:10 GMT
It's just awful. We're not in any danger where we live but the smoke has been bad the past few days. We've just cancelled our holiday - we were meant to leave on Monday but the whole area is under fire warnings and it would be insane to go. I'm hoping to get a refund but I can't complain because so many people are losing everything. I actually live right near the centre for the evacuees and from what I hear they're having problems getting people to stay away. Everyone wants to help and they're trying to be generous with donations but just turning up with armloads of donated goods isn't helping anyone right now.
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Post by rahnee on Jan 4, 2020 1:02:15 GMT
We are in the Westernport area of Victoria so no fires here. The first load of evacuees from the Mallacoota area have arrived here by ship this morning. HMAS Cerberus Navy Base begins at the end our street and I understand that some of them will be housed there and others a couple of towns over in Somerville. Our community has really stepped up with offers of assistance. Our local vet clinic is sending down a vet and nurse to assist. As we are close to the water a haze has settled over the down and there is a strong smell of smoke. But we are so lucky we haven’t experienced an fires directly. We are in Bush land and have had to evacuate on a couple of occasions previously and it’s pretty scary. My thoughts really go out to those in the middle of it all and the wildlife loss is just devastating.
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Post by andreasmom on Jan 4, 2020 1:40:05 GMT
Can we help? Are there any gofundmes or links where we can help? I know every bit helps so i’d love to.
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,057
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 4, 2020 1:40:15 GMT
Thank you for your thoughts. Where I live we are safe and well away from any of the fires but we know many people who have had to evacuate their homes or where they were holidaying. Just before Christmas my brother in the Adelaide Hills was evacuated and our planned family gathering at this place on the 21st had to be relocated. They are safe now but still on a "watch and act". The scale and devastation of so many parts of the country is unfathomable. Fires are joining and are not defendable. Firefighters (many volunteer brigades) have been working crazy hours for months. This is also the busiest time of the year for many of the areas. It is our summer holidays so towns near the beach that may have a usual population of about 1000 people may have 10x that at this time of year. I don't know of one person who doesn't have someone they know affected. The scale is so heartbreaking
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AllieC
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,057
Jul 4, 2014 6:57:02 GMT
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Post by AllieC on Jan 4, 2020 1:42:11 GMT
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,892
Location: PNW
Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Jan 4, 2020 1:55:46 GMT
We have had forest fire smoke haze here before several times, but the closest fire was 40 miles away and it was awful. Sorry Peas that are dealing with this I hope you have rain, and blue sky again soon.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,469
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Jan 4, 2020 4:51:11 GMT
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Post by andreasmom on Jan 4, 2020 5:39:03 GMT
admin can we please pin this one to the top? I’m sure many more Peas want to help.
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Post by flanz on Jan 4, 2020 6:44:00 GMT
I'm in So Cal in the area that keeps getting hit by wildfires and what is happening down under is terrifying. I so hope our peas and their families, friends and communities are safe. Also keeping the terrifically brave people fighting this fire battle in my safest thoughts. Same. I've evacuated for several fires but what we're seeing in Australia is horrifying. (((HUGS)))
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