To ask you to pray for the thousands of people trapped on a beach by fires in Victoria?

[TheClaws]

There are 4000 people from the town of Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia, that is currently being destroyed by fire. They most likely won’t have homes to return to. They all have life jackets on ready to take shelter in the water as embers rain down upon them. Fire personnel have just - as I post - told them to get in the water. Can you imagine how they must feel?

Australia at the moment is burning across 4 states. Where I am it is 45c and the smell of smoke is heavy. It is a terrible summer for us.

Haven't read the whole thread. I'm not religious, but the news is showing us hell on earth. I cannot pray for you, but hope that the fires will die down soon (I know, the weather isn't helping, but I hope anyway).

The PM Morrison is a cockwomble.

StoppinBy Okay. It was misleading only if you can’t read/want to nitpick like it seems like a majority of MN posters like to do. Onwards and forwards!

I would love to have someone to vote FOR

In Linda Burney's seat. Voted positively for her. But she's one woman, and had to toe the 'be nice to QLD coal luvvies' Labor line, no matter her own opinions.

why aren't other countries doing more to help like sending over firefighters and military personnel? Surely with a crisis of this scale, countries all over the world should be doing all they can to help?

I would imagine there is limited usefulness to firefighters not used to the conditions of the bush. American personnel and materiel might be useful, ditto Canadian and NZ, but I can't think of anywhere else with enough trained people to spare and the money to fund an expedition.

However, many American firefighters/medics are also members of the National Guard in their states, or armed forces reservists and may not be released to assist in Oz thanks to Trump's horrible decision to threaten war on Iran.

LOL to someone denying the smoke on the south island of NZ. What a fricking tosspot. I'm not there, but I've seen photos from friends and neighbours, and yeah, that wasn't the average January sky..

There was definitely smoke in the sky, and by the evening you could even smell it. It's not hard to tell smoke from cloud - and you could even see it on a satellite photo. Some people eh?

It's so windy in Victoria today. Must be a nightmare for firefighters.

"The scale of the fires is stretching resources on the ground and there are clearly communities that need additional help and in response to that, we must move forward first as a Commonwealth, particularly with the work of our defence forces, and then integrate with the local operations that are in place in those local communities,” Mr Morrison said.

No fucking shit sherlock!

Too late Smoko, we all saw how little you cared and how you have had to be pushed into this.

Some practical assistance finally:

@TheClaws how are you getting on? 47° here earlier, now down to 37° so I've chucked the kids out to swim, the air conditioning is barely taking the edge off it so they needed to do something to cool down.

@ispepsiokay

Wow 47 degrees, that’s like Dubai temperatures. I was in Aus for Christmas / NY, 2010/2011 and it was hot at 42 degrees.

Stay safe.

I’m not near any fires and am safe but have had to limit my time reading about the fires and watching the news. My depression has got much worse since the start of summer. I just find myself bursting into tears some days. Then I feel guilty because I still have a house and my life isn’t in danger.

It’s actually pretty nice weather wise whet I am today, overcast and I can’t smell smoke (there are fires in the area though). It’s a weird disconnect between this and what’s happening with the heat in other states.

Maybe I worry too much but I fear there is going to be a major social and economic impact from these fires and from the ongoing drought. I just feel really downbeat about Australia in general at the moment

@bluetongue

I can see how the constant news would have that impact, when it’s that close to home. I always get upset whenever there are floods or a terror attack here. I know it’s not much, coming from a random internet stranger but be kind to yourself.

I would love to see a Royal commission enquiry on the impact of the diversion of river water to coal mines on the severity of the drought and bushfires. Adani mine alone diverted 12.5 billions of litres from the Suttor river, water farmers were not allowed to use. www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-25/adani-plans-to-take-12.5b-litres-of-water-as-farmer-denied/10298354

And there are 405 (!!!!!) coal mines in Australia, an industry that uses immense amount of water, every single one of them uses hundreds of millions of water diverted from rivers or aquifers.

Even if all are not as big as Adani, a ton of coal needs 250 Lt of water. If 431 millions of tons are extracted every year, it means 108.000.000.000 litres of water are removed from the environment, year after year after year and slowly drying australia hence adding to the severity of the bushfire.

Friends and family keep asking me why is it so bad this year, this is why. The loss of water reached tipping point.

And for those saying we need the coal to produce electricity, it is not true, we export 375 millions of tons of these 431. It is greed and money.

Nice article in the New York Times www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/opinion/australia-fires-climate-change.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Eye-opening tweets: www.boredpanda.com/australian-wildfires-new-south-wales/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=BPFacebook

ispepsiokay We got up to 49c today. It’s still 37c now at 9.30pm. We were lucky though in that we didn’t have any fire activity near us. There is a southerly change tonight with high winds and lightning predicted - that could be problematic. Fingers crossed!

This thread began about Mallacoota days ago, and reports I'm reading say babies and infants are stranded in Mallacoota because the air isn't clear enough for the helicopter evacuation. Children and the elderly left by boat and arrived yesterday and now other towns also need rescuing
The fire service are fighting fires they shouldn't be in charge of rescue efforts so who is?
I'll continue to pray and donate and do what we should all be doing read up on the issues @LeGrandBleu provides a useful springboard for the wider issues.
We are still watching and waiting for the people in Mallacoota days later and now 1000s more have joined them

Never mind that the Liberal Party bought 147 brand new BMWs....
The coffee cart at Parliament House has had a lovely refurb coating $380,000 -
And the PM’s new plane $250million
Could have bought some food or water for some fireys

Yes I read that children younger than school age can’t be evacuated by boat and are stranded. Very worrying.

Three fires have combined to form a single blaze bigger than Manhattan, as Australian firefighters battle what has been predicted to be the most catastrophic day yet in an already devastating bushfire season.

twitter.com/cnni/status/1213490723829489664

Australia’s government is disgusting. I don’t know how they sleep at night. They must be utterly brainwashed by greed and capitalism.

I feel desperately sad for the people and wildlife affected by this and the planet.

Humans are morons

So it's families with babies and toddlers mostly left on the beach now? Why can't they be evacuated by sea?

My heart is absolutely sinking at the thought.

Yes why can't young children be evacuated by boat?

So it's families with babies and toddlers mostly left on the beach now? Why can't they be evacuated by sea?

"“During the meetings it was explained that for children under school age, the elderly and the frail, it was preferable to move them by air, as boarding a Naval vessel may require climbing up a short rope and ladder,” the spokesperson said."

Source: www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/families-stuck-in-mallacoota-after-navy-ships-discouraged-children-under-5-20200104-p53otm.html