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Feb. 9th, 2009 01:18 pmThe weather, it has cooled down here.
On the other hand, Bushfire burns worse than those seen after the Bali bombings. The death toll is at 107 - bizzarely, one LESS than when I went to work this morning.
I was in the Nat. Museum yesterday and freaked myself out looking at their displays on major bushfire disasters - previously the worst was not Ash Wednesday (1983), but a firestorm in 1939. I didn't pay attention to the exact body count from 1939... but I think it was under a hundred, which would make what we have here the worst ever.
I'm disturbed by all the talk at work, which basically boils down to: if people weren't 'stupid' (aka unprepared, panicking) then they wouldn't be dead. Yes, we're seeing photos of properties with trees right up to the house, which is just asking for trouble. What that says, more than anything, is that people don't (or didn't) understand just how seriously you have to take bushfire danger. Hopefully that might change a bit from here on in, but it's a broad social problem, a matter of education and community attitudes, not just 'stupidity'. BAH.
(EEEK IT IS RAINING OMG)
Sickeningly: suspected arson. ARSON. With 107 people dead - the only thing which has killed more Australians in one go is war (and probably no war since Vietnam). Murder charges well deserved.
Point of this exercise is Red Cross. I've also got direct deposit details for the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund, if anyone wants them.
On the other hand, Bushfire burns worse than those seen after the Bali bombings. The death toll is at 107 - bizzarely, one LESS than when I went to work this morning.
I was in the Nat. Museum yesterday and freaked myself out looking at their displays on major bushfire disasters - previously the worst was not Ash Wednesday (1983), but a firestorm in 1939. I didn't pay attention to the exact body count from 1939... but I think it was under a hundred, which would make what we have here the worst ever.
I'm disturbed by all the talk at work, which basically boils down to: if people weren't 'stupid' (aka unprepared, panicking) then they wouldn't be dead. Yes, we're seeing photos of properties with trees right up to the house, which is just asking for trouble. What that says, more than anything, is that people don't (or didn't) understand just how seriously you have to take bushfire danger. Hopefully that might change a bit from here on in, but it's a broad social problem, a matter of education and community attitudes, not just 'stupidity'. BAH.
(EEEK IT IS RAINING OMG)
Sickeningly: suspected arson. ARSON. With 107 people dead - the only thing which has killed more Australians in one go is war (and probably no war since Vietnam). Murder charges well deserved.
Point of this exercise is Red Cross. I've also got direct deposit details for the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund, if anyone wants them.