Posted on 02/08/2009 5:05:06 PM PST by JoeProBono
Marysville is the town that disappeared. Once known as Melbourne's honeymooning centre, with its pretty guesthouses and century-old oaks, the town, about 60 miles from the Victoria state capital, is now a smouldering, post-apocalyptic wasteland.From the air, nearby St Fillans resembles a row of campfires - piles of powdery ashes with the embers trampled out. The landscape is deserted, with caravans, boats and burned-out cars abandoned in the middle of roads. Many appear to have been trapped by flying debris - huge sections of what were once walls which have blocked the road. A house under construction is untouched by fire, but the savage winds have scattered its beams, like a child's game of pick-up sticks amid the scorched earth and blankets of smoke.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
You wouldn’t have a link, would ya?
www.couriermail.com.au that it's at 108 ... go read the pages ....
I’ve been reading horror stories about this. I had to stop, it’s too damn sad.
Not putting in links must be the new sport.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/09/australia-bush-fires-death-toll
Or is there a glitch in the system?
Writers: Jewel Topsfield and Daniella Miletic
Date on story: Monday 9 February 2009
I was reading about this catastrophe yesterday, really bad stuff.
I recall a Discovery channel (or something) show about this type of disaster. They talked about “super firestorms” and how they are pretty much impossible to defend against once they get so big. Of course on the show it had all of some huge city (Sydney, Melbourne??) being destroyed.
Yeah, but wow! You think you try the best to prepare you and your family for things, and then something really big happens like this.
Just heartbreaking. Prayers for those lost and those who have lost.
This is tragic. They suspect arson. Lots of arson. So I hope that the fire detectives down under will be blessed with sufficient clues to nail the SOBs who started this. These fires are hard to control because they are so hot that they create their own weather. Nasty stuff.
We have eucalyptus trees here in Southern California. Some places they have taken them out and replaced them with less oily trees. Those babies go up like torches in a wildfire. I bet Australia has plenty of them — aren’t they native there??
We get those firestorms, too, when there’s a forest fire here in So Cal. They do create their own weather, winds. The flames/ embers leap across freeways in the winds. Very scary. And they suspect arson in this? Isn’t that terrible?
Bush’s fault!
If anyone comes up with a google earth space shot I’d love to have the link. Thx.
Yep, they are - most Australian trees are eucalypts. You obviously know what they can do in California - imagine forest where there’s nothing but eucalypts ablaze.
Start with the mosques and look for anyone that got burned.
Australia is on the other side of the International Dateline. It has been Monday in Australia for some time.
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