I'm not sure whether people of other parts of the world are familiar with the saying when your luck is all running bad... " Gheess I must have run over a chinaman my luck is so bad"????
Our neighbors in North Queensland could be forgiven for thinking that someone from there was responsible for wiping out the Ming Dynasty... there has been a constant battle with flood waters since Christmas and now the biggest Cyclone on record is about to cross the coast line, winds up to 300 Km per hour and 500 mm of rain coupled with a storm surge of up to 7 metres are expected.
To put this into some perspective for readers in the USA our cyclones are rated at category 1,2,3,4,5.Cyclone Yasi is currently 500 km of the coast just below Cairns it is a category 3 storm at present expected to become a category 4 or 5 as it crosses the coast, again for perspective a Category 4 storm delivers wind gusts of 260 - 290 km per hour and a 5 has gusts of 300km per hour plus.
This is a Huge storm with a 500 km front if it maintains its current speed the eye of the storm may take an hour to pass over with winds of 300 km per hour on either side of that hour.
I am not the full bottle of knowledge on either cyclones or the Northern hemisphere's hurricanes
but I believe a category 4 cyclone is the equivalent of a major hurricane but on a much larger scale IE a 500 km front, for a bit more perspective Queensland is a BIG State, its about 1600 km (1000 miles) from Cairns to Brisbane so while we will probably get some rain from it down this way we won't experience any major problems
I'm not real big on prayers but if you are at all that way inclined the good people of North Queensland could certainly do with any help they can get over the next 24 - 36 hours and beyond.
"In the beginning"
Showing posts with label Mother Nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother Nature. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
6 feet high and rising, so Johnny Cash sang.
Catching up on the flood news... we didn't quite make the forecast levels here in Gympie but it was enough to keep the Highway closed thus forcing the postponement of my eye surgery... Saturday Jan 22nd is the date for it now.
I believe the rest of Australia and indeed the world is being made aware of the Queensland floods, its 21 days since Rockhampton in North Queensland and Emerald in Central Queensland began this seemingly never-ending rain induced nightmare.
One of the worst hit areas has been Toowoomba (the garden city) where 5 inches of rain in 30 minutes sparked an inland tsunami, a wall of water roaring down the hillside and taking whatever it came across with it, in the Lockyer Valley below Toowoomba, the towns, farm buildings and equipment hundreds of cars and sadly 15 people, there are still 43 people missing so it appears very likely the death toll will rise.
It is now the turn of Brisbane , the States capital, flood levels were predicted to equal the record set in 1974, in fact they have fallen short of this by about 1 metre but are never-the-less creating huge problems for Queensland and in fact all of Australia... this State is the foodbowl for much of our fresh food... Fruit and Vegetables, Beef Cattle etc. so with up to 75% of the State flood affected and Brisbane being the main market centre things are going to get scarce and expensive.
There are now floods in the 5 States that make up our Eastern Seaboard making this the wettest Summer on record in many places and there is still over 1 month of Summer to go.
I am finding it difficult to watch the round the clock TV coverage without a tear coming to my eyes when you hear of the sad events and the tales of incredible bravery that are coming out daily.
Monday, January 10, 2011
How highs the water Mamma?
This post is coming to you from rain sodden and partially flooded Gympie
Please click on photos to enbiggen.
This is the view from my back porch taken with a 50mm lens (about the same as we see with the naked eye)
It looks a little more dramatic through a 300mm zoom lens, now the water shows up on both sides of the shed in the middle distance, this shed is 3 building blocks from my house and fortunately about 25 feet lower
The first business area to flood houses among other things a major telco office
The flood waters begin their relentless march up the main shopping precinct of town, in the 1999 flood the awning of the hotel on the corner was under water, so at this spot we can expect another 10 feet of water.
The low lying shops have been designed to be stripped completely bare before the inundation as stock and sales fittings are all removed.
These business people seem to accept the flood damage sometimes an annual event. although our last flood was in 1999 (Have I mentioned that 10 year drought before???)
Unlike most of the other towns and indeed areas that have made the news all over the world lately Gympie is quite hilly, this leads to deep floodwaters in the low lying spots and high and dry areas in the higher spots. The main shopping precinct is in fact the only place that has been rebuilt after each flood, surprisingly few homes are inundated simply because Gympie has been going through this for so long that almost all the most flood prone houses have been scrapped and as I mentioned before its not flat enough for the water to spread and lay for days, its usually drained away in a couple of days and life returns to normal quickly (except for those dumb shopkeepers who return time and again!!!)
This is where our last flood peaked, it will be interesting to see what we wake to tomorrow
This shopping centre has been built since the 1999 flood so it will be interesting also to see if they got it right here, the under store carpark, which is slate grey looks certain to get pretty wet but if the shops stay dry I guess they will call that a victory.
Gympie is on the national "Highway 1" which circumnavigates the country for an amazing 14,523 Kms, as has been the pattern for the last 100 years this highway is under water on both sides of town, one can't help but wonder (especially if one is a bit cynical about such things) just how much of the heartache that is about to befall Gympie and neighboring town of Maryborough might have been avoided had the "Green" population not prevented the building of the Traveston water storage Dam that had been planned for the Mary river????
The trucks that use the Bruce highway have been stuck near each of the places the highway has been cut.
Please join me in the fervent hope that my eye surgeon, who lives on the Sunshine Coast about 70 kms away does not get flood bound next thursday and can complete the cataract surgery I have scheduled for then.
Please click on photos to enbiggen.
This is the view from my back porch taken with a 50mm lens (about the same as we see with the naked eye)
It looks a little more dramatic through a 300mm zoom lens, now the water shows up on both sides of the shed in the middle distance, this shed is 3 building blocks from my house and fortunately about 25 feet lower
The first business area to flood houses among other things a major telco office
The flood waters begin their relentless march up the main shopping precinct of town, in the 1999 flood the awning of the hotel on the corner was under water, so at this spot we can expect another 10 feet of water.
The low lying shops have been designed to be stripped completely bare before the inundation as stock and sales fittings are all removed.
These business people seem to accept the flood damage sometimes an annual event. although our last flood was in 1999 (Have I mentioned that 10 year drought before???)
Unlike most of the other towns and indeed areas that have made the news all over the world lately Gympie is quite hilly, this leads to deep floodwaters in the low lying spots and high and dry areas in the higher spots. The main shopping precinct is in fact the only place that has been rebuilt after each flood, surprisingly few homes are inundated simply because Gympie has been going through this for so long that almost all the most flood prone houses have been scrapped and as I mentioned before its not flat enough for the water to spread and lay for days, its usually drained away in a couple of days and life returns to normal quickly (except for those dumb shopkeepers who return time and again!!!)
This is where our last flood peaked, it will be interesting to see what we wake to tomorrow
This shopping centre has been built since the 1999 flood so it will be interesting also to see if they got it right here, the under store carpark, which is slate grey looks certain to get pretty wet but if the shops stay dry I guess they will call that a victory.
Gympie is on the national "Highway 1" which circumnavigates the country for an amazing 14,523 Kms, as has been the pattern for the last 100 years this highway is under water on both sides of town, one can't help but wonder (especially if one is a bit cynical about such things) just how much of the heartache that is about to befall Gympie and neighboring town of Maryborough might have been avoided had the "Green" population not prevented the building of the Traveston water storage Dam that had been planned for the Mary river????
The trucks that use the Bruce highway have been stuck near each of the places the highway has been cut.Please join me in the fervent hope that my eye surgeon, who lives on the Sunshine Coast about 70 kms away does not get flood bound next thursday and can complete the cataract surgery I have scheduled for then.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Raised Dust
A massive dust storm has hit the east coast of Australia, Sydney, Brisbane and countless centers in between have been engulfed by dust, millions of tons of topsoil from the outback have come to town.
Gympie was not exempted from the airborne dust this view was typical of anywhere in the city at 3 pm today
This is the view from my back veranda looking toward the Nestle factory that I have posted about before, yes that is the sun just barely visible through the haze... and its only 3.40 pm.
This is a photo with a similar view taken last year after a prolonged absence during which the jungle grew in my yard, if the dust has cleared in the morning I will take a fresh photo.
Here we are with an almost clear sky again, todays gentle breeze has swung around enough so I'm getting my free caffeine fix, life is good, by the way that photo is zoomed quite a bit, I don't really live that close to the factory.
Gympie was not exempted from the airborne dust this view was typical of anywhere in the city at 3 pm today
This is the view from my back veranda looking toward the Nestle factory that I have posted about before, yes that is the sun just barely visible through the haze... and its only 3.40 pm.
This is a photo with a similar view taken last year after a prolonged absence during which the jungle grew in my yard, if the dust has cleared in the morning I will take a fresh photo.
Here we are with an almost clear sky again, todays gentle breeze has swung around enough so I'm getting my free caffeine fix, life is good, by the way that photo is zoomed quite a bit, I don't really live that close to the factory.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A Mild Flood for Gympie
As a special welcome home present for me... Gympie turned on a little
flood, not a fully fledged monster like we had 10 years ago when the
Mary river rose 22 metres, this one was just a little 12 metre flood.
Gympie has a North side (where I live) and a South side (where I lived 10 years ago
when big flood happened, North and South are connected by two bridges, this
photo shows the river rising at the lowest of the two bridges, this is normally the
busiest bridge (except when its under water).
This is what the "Kidd Bridge" looks like when you can't see it,as we couldn't
for three days last week.
This is usually a lovely little track down to a boat ramp and picnic area.
Compared to the major flooding that has been happening over the last 2/3 months
in North Queensland this one was just a pup, never the less we are looking at a
damages cost of over a $ million and it never even flooded a single building.
As the February bushfires in Victoria so clearly showed, the forces of nature can
make mans efforts look quite puny.
I've got about half of my unpacking and stowing away done, thankfully there's
no hurry.
Hooray, until next time we meet.
flood, not a fully fledged monster like we had 10 years ago when the
Mary river rose 22 metres, this one was just a little 12 metre flood.
Gympie has a North side (where I live) and a South side (where I lived 10 years agowhen big flood happened, North and South are connected by two bridges, this
photo shows the river rising at the lowest of the two bridges, this is normally the
busiest bridge (except when its under water).
This is what the "Kidd Bridge" looks like when you can't see it,as we couldn'tfor three days last week.
This is usually a lovely little track down to a boat ramp and picnic area.Compared to the major flooding that has been happening over the last 2/3 months
in North Queensland this one was just a pup, never the less we are looking at a
damages cost of over a $ million and it never even flooded a single building.
As the February bushfires in Victoria so clearly showed, the forces of nature can
make mans efforts look quite puny.
I've got about half of my unpacking and stowing away done, thankfully there's
no hurry.
Hooray, until next time we meet.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Victorian Bushfires
All of the detail below is changing constantly, and sad to say
none of it seems to be good news at present
Victorian Bushfires.February 8 2009.
104 people are confirmed dead in Victoria's bushfires at the time of writing, it is expected this will rise much further as more areas are made accessible to search, this far surpassing the state's toll of 47 in the 1983 Ash Wednesday blazes, and the 71 death toll of the Black Friday fires in 1939.
Blazes continue to ravage the state with well over 312,000 hectares affected. At least 700 homes have been destroyed - 550 of those in Kinglake and surrounding areas.
The Kinglake complex fires north-east of Melbourne are now at least 80 kilometres wide and 220,000 hectares in size, after several fires merged. .
More than 70,000 hectares have been burnt in Gippsland, and last week's fire in the Delburn area has again raised its head.
The Red Cross has about 20 relief centres operating, with 3700 people now registered as evacuated.
Please click on the photos to enbiggen. (All photos have been sourced from the web)
These first two photos are of the lovely town of Yarra Glen, this is very close to where we lived at Dixons Creek way back in 1939 when the horrific Black Friday fires blazed all around us.
At night or when the smoke is thick enough to black out the daylight and the flames become much more visible the images become more graphic.
The devistation is visible in the background and also in the face of this survivor.
Very little was spared by the greedy flames, the chimneys are testament to a climate that at times is quite cold.
Families were not spared as these young people show, in many cases there has been deaths of parents or children which of course make the situation even harder to bear.
This was a scene repeated over and over, collisions caused by the dense smoke hiding the danger of other vehicles, trees, either still standing or as debris blocking roads.
Utter devastation everywhere you looked or pointed a camera.
I have travelled this road several times, its natural beauty now changed forever for the residents that survived the horror of Black Sunday.
Some of the debris which made roads impassable in heavy bush land.
The heartbreaking task of searching through burnt out houses and cars for the
bodies of those who didn't survive
Just one of many glimpses of the awesome power unleashed by a bushfire in full swing, the heat, and noise of rushing wind both have to be experienced to be believed.
Over many years the advice has been to stay in your car or your house if you haven't been able to escape in time, this advice didn't take into account the ferocity of the fires that engulfed huge areas of the state of Victoria on this weekend.
Stark reminders of the end of somebody's dreams, there are more than 700 such reminders in the fire affected areas.
Fire racing up a slope at a speed much faster than a running person or animal.
An almost ghostly figure seen here desperately trying to turn back a monster.
There are of course hundreds of burns victims as well as those overcome by smoke inhalation who need medical treatment.
Mopping up and ensuring no future flare ups is an important part of fire fighting.
Water bombing in otherwise inaccessible country is the only form of defence that can be used.
Depicting the incredible bravery of the men and women of the Country Fire Authority who battled the devastating fires that covered much of the state during the past week, and who are still hard at it trying desperately to mop up those blazes that are still burning.
As I said at the start of this post the details are changing constantly, the death toll is expected to keep rising for several days until the searching of burnt out ruins is completed, and until those who have been hospitalized are able to be declared out of danger.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Still as hot as HADES
I TOLD YOU THAT ITS BEEN HOT!!!!!
The demise of a Mr Whippy Ice Cream van!!!!
I got this picture from my good buddy Jan at Yarrawonga so it seems that Adelaide isn't the only hotspot but there has been 6 consecutive days over 40 C, the hottest day for 100 years, (45.7 C) the highest overnight minimum ever recorded here, (34.9 C) and we have another 6 days of 37 C, (100 F) or higher still to come.
There has already bee 32 heat related deaths, a huge bushfire in Victoria which has claimed 28 houses but fortuneatly no lives, this fire appears to have been lit by an arsonist to make matters worse.
There has been widespread power blackouts, public transport services all but failed for 2 days, generally speaking its been a fun time!!!!!
Through it all Vicki has been as well as could be hoped, so at least thats somrthing to be thankful for.
The demise of a Mr Whippy Ice Cream van!!!!I got this picture from my good buddy Jan at Yarrawonga so it seems that Adelaide isn't the only hotspot but there has been 6 consecutive days over 40 C, the hottest day for 100 years, (45.7 C) the highest overnight minimum ever recorded here, (34.9 C) and we have another 6 days of 37 C, (100 F) or higher still to come.
There has already bee 32 heat related deaths, a huge bushfire in Victoria which has claimed 28 houses but fortuneatly no lives, this fire appears to have been lit by an arsonist to make matters worse.
There has been widespread power blackouts, public transport services all but failed for 2 days, generally speaking its been a fun time!!!!!
Through it all Vicki has been as well as could be hoped, so at least thats somrthing to be thankful for.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sorry Post (will try to do better next time)
A new Game for the Aussie BBQ.
First one to get out loses, but at least they don't get boiled alive.
My Aboriginal mate at Cunnamulla was very impressed with Kevin 07's apology about the stolen generations that he thought a response was in order..... he jumped to his feet and in a loud voice replied....
To all you white Aussies
All us Black Fella's are sorry too, but we know nuttin’ ‘bout no stolen generators.
And for anyone who expected there would be financial gains from Mr Rudd's apology... we are all sorry!!
August 31st
Just got transferred by my work into our new home in
September 13th
Really heating up. Got to 30 today. Not a problem, live in an air-conditioned house, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sun worshipper.
September 30th
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today, lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain, no more mowing lawns for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it he
October 10th
The temperature hasn’t been below 30 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s kinda windy though. But getting used to heat is taking longer than I expected.
October 15th
Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body, missed 3 days of work, what a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though, got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.
October 20th
I missed kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the genuine leather upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat shit. I learned my lesson though, no more pets in this heat.
October 25th
The wind sucks. It feels like a giant bloody blow dryer, and it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged me $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.
October 30th
Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now, Bloody $450,000 house and we can’t even go inside. Why did I ever come here?
November 4th
Its 35 degrees! Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today, it cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 25 degrees, but this bloody humidity makes the house feel like it’s about 30 degrees. Stupid repairman. I hate this stupid place
November 8thIf another wise arse cracks, “Hot enough for you today?” I’m going to strangle him. Bloody heat! By the time I got to work the cars radiator was boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet and I smell like baked cat!
November 9th
Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, sat on the black leather upholstery in the car. I thought my arse was on fire, I lost 2 layers of skin and all the hair from the back of my legs. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse and baked cat.
November 10th
The weather report might as well be a bloody recording. Hot and sunny, Hot and sunny, Hot and sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn’t it ever rain in this damn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my $2,000 worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the bloody pool. Even the palms can’t live in this heat.
November 14th
Welcome to HELL. Temperature got to 38 degrees today. Now the air-conditioner’s gone in my car. The repairman came to fix and said, “Hot enough for you today?” My wife had to spend the $2,500 house payment to bail my arse out of jail for assaulting the repairman. Bloody
December 1st
WHAT?? Just heard on the TV that this is the first day of SUMMER! They have to be kidding!!
Here in Gympie its usually a bit hotter than Brisbane, and summer is on the way!!!!!
For those of you who can't be bothered looking up the conversion factors, here they are.... we aim to please.
The 22 to 32 zone represents a comfortable temperature, above that the humidity levels really kick in and it becomes a sweat box.
Celsius and Fahrenheit in degrees (air temperature)
| °C
| °F
| | °C
| °F
| | °C
| °F
| | °C
| °F
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