Weather Extremes!

Thought I would do a quick update, especially for those of you living overseas who may be wondering about the Bushfires currently happening in Australia at present. I live in an area on the outskirts of Melbourne which is commonly known as the "Urban Fringe". This generally describes where the suburbs abutt bushland. There has been a long history in Australia of bushfires and with the extremes of weather we have been experiencing, this means that those of us on the fringes are at much greater risk of bushfires.


I have been prepared for some time if fire directly hits my home, and yesterday with temperatures reaching the mid to high 40's (that is celsius....) I kept checking at the back of my property where I have a bush trail to see if there was anything happening. In Melbourne itself yesterday it reached 46.4 (115 Fahrenheit)...and in the outer areas and inland it reached up to the high 40's...

Anyway, late in the day, my neighbour came in and asked had I seen what was happening out the front.....and the picture above is what presented itself as I stepped onto my front verandah....needless to say, it was pretty scary.... thankfully though (for me) the wind was blowing the smoke in the opposite direction to my area....but I did spend the night waking regularly to check the news....Sadly there have been many lives lost throughout these fires and many many homes and even whole towns lost to these fires....I think it will particularly affect the area where I work as it is even further out from the city with much more dense bush....A couple of towns within relatively short distances from my work have been devastated and my thoughts at this time are particularly with some of my work colleagues who live in or close to these areas.

In contrast though, are the major floods currently being experienced in the far north of our country, particularly in Queensland....Talk about extremes.

Anyway, I would ask that those who are inclined, to please pray for our country, the amazing job the Emergency Services Personnel are doing and for those who have already lost loved ones and property and those still under threat. May God bring relief to the devastating drought conditions and fires here down south....and also relief to those suffering loss from floods up north.