Tookie's Bushfires update

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Tookie's Bushfires update - Sorry if this is a long post

Most of the bushfires up our way are now well under control - I have finally unpacked the car boot and have put the photos up on the walls - I might add we couldn't get them quite into the right place - but as they say a change is as good as a holiday. The smoke has been constant now for ages almost 4 weeks l guess the smoke haze has now affected Melbourne for the past few days.

Now to the important information

Over the last week the bushfires in North east Victoria have burnt out almost 1 million hectares (l can't convert that to your acreage) of bush/ forests/ alpine areas farm areas and parts of some very small town ships - Total of 38 houses last l heard. We have had lots of volunteers and fire people flown in to help - Including 22 fire fighters from the USA.

The front of the fires is talked about as hundreds of kilometers of a burning fire front.

The people in the areas are quite exhausted - from not only fighting fires but the sheer wait - waiting for the fire to come. Thank God at this stage there have been now human deaths

from the fires. It is said that the Alpine areas (our snow fields wont be extinguished until we actually get heavy rains.

Sadly there has been a lot of loss of live stock and farming fences etc. I also heard that a million plus of native animals too have been lost - it is expected that some species may have been lost completed. Needless to say there is virtually no feed for the farm animals and the native animals. Some of the animals that have been rescued are being treated for burns and stress - I scanned this photo from the local paper and l hope it appears in the posting. - However - I guess although a lot has been lost - Lives have been affected and changed - but as l said none are lost. Cheers from Tookie

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Rats - that is 2 lots of photos l have had trouble attaching

ill have to go back to Heathers classes anyway l have resized the photo and will try and post this rather lovely photo again

Tookie

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Specializes in MS Home Health.

Tookie they have to be exhausted! I am glad that the U.S. is trying to help. Seems like 22 would be a drop in the bucket.

renerian

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Specializes in MS Home Health.

Cute koala!

renerian

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Thank you - its taken me ages to work out the scannig and then the posting -

yet with every step we are learning hey that could be a good quote couldnt it

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Ohh Tookie isn't it horrible?? I have friends in Buchan and Wandiligong near Bright and they are stressed to the max!!

Most of Melbourne is still covered in thick smoke like fog and it's every eery and oh soo hot!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you, your family and friends are not in direct danger!!

Stay safe, take care and all the best!!

Love Rachel @}-->-------------

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Thank you racheal

We are fine

I worry about so many aspects of this devastation it will l belive take along time to recover

How are you BTW

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

Glad to know you are ok Tookie. Terrible what those bushfires have done. As I've said before, we really DO live in a sunburnt country! Trouble is; most of the fires aren't caused by the sun! It's often some lowlife sicko who starts them.

Let's hope for good rains, SOON!

Cheers,

Grace

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Ohh good to hear Tookie!

I am good thanks - well, still have a big bump on my forehead that is bruised and a few scratches too but no more black eyes ( they are a pale yellow now!) I have been keeping myself busy planning a round the world holiday!!! Starting in Istanbul, Turkey then on to London, then America where i am meeting my cousin and doing the theme parks then Hawaii then home!!! Will be 32 days in total!! Cheaper to go round the world then just to Turkey... how silly for them but i am not complaining!! This should be taking place July so i better cut back the social life and start saving!!!

I too am wondering how australia is going to cope with the many aspects of the fires - very scary!!

Glad you are safe!!

Take care

Love Rachel @}-->--------------

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BTW, for our friends in the US -- multiply hectares x2.5 to get acreage -- so that equates to -- 2.5 MILLION ACRES OF LAND DESTROYED!!!

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OZ nurse thank you for the converstion L am hopless at that

The area still has lots of smoke haze - some small towns in the Gippsland area haave had some ember attack

Thye were saying on the news today that some of the native species my be completly eliminated following these fires (Worst in 70 years)

The farmers are going to do it very tough - no feed and this damm drought just goes on and on -

I havent heard much about the Canberra fallout - l guess cause l am thinking mainly about our area - Nut an awful lot of people are suffering there as well

Anyaw we are fine - another hot stinlker of a day again today - 35 degrees - - We have only had 1 or 2 days belwo 30 in the past 5 weeks or so l think

Tookie

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Bush fires update

Well the bush fires are out as you may know we had a lot of damage - The forest amount in both NSW and Victoria was estimated to be the size of Victoria in the bush (I have trouble equating that to a state over there that you would know) Anyway as l said in a previous post there has been a lot of damage done to the ecosystems and habitat of some of the very small animals and wildlife. Sadly whilst there were no live lost as such to the Victorian/ NSW forest bush fires due to the fire we did lose a firefighter - She and her crew were caught in a mudslide - We had rain a month or so ago and because of the fires the ground didn't hold and a massive water system swept away their car and she drowned - Needless to say a small community was totally devastated by this - she was a woman in her 30's l think.

The fires and the blackened areas are apparently having a huge regrowth and there have been lots of new shoots from the blackened areas. The state government is trying to encourage the tourists back into the area - (It is very popular particularly at his time of the year - in autumn up Bright way and then into our snowfields (About an hour and half drive from us here)

Anyway that l guess sums up (From my aspect of the bush fires here) needless to say l don't know a lot about the Canberra area - just that there are a lot of people still homeless. - I didn't realize how close our nephew was to the fires - he talked a couple of weeks ago about packing up his car with the necessities - (He is a single guy) he packed some books CD's and his wok and some food.

Anyway the drought goes on here - we haven't as such had a lot of rain - just the one day - we desperately need to have rain- we have a the big Hume Weir near us - It is the equivalent size of Sydney harbour when it is full - It is currently down to 5% of capacity. A friend and l went out there to have a look a few weeks ago and l took a photo - The sticks that are coming out of the water are the uncovered trees that were covered in water. It is so dangerous there now l believe they are not allowing any water skiing and limited boating activities on the weir. So we still desperately need rain here in the North east Of Victoria. The photo l have put in show the Hume Weir - Normally pretty well all of this would be covered in water right up to the shrub you see in the foreground.

Tookie

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