Sez O'Grady: Wild weather?

We have Cyclone Narelle to give us a fright, but only category 4 so far and bushfires in the eastern states. Bad, bad news. The fires have been vicious these past few days. Three teenage lads were charged with deliberately lighting fires east of Sydney and a farmer's ute blamed for starting a fire in one farming area. What do I think of all this? Fear! I have family over there and its frightening. We have been warned time and again in the Scriptures and by our Prophets of what will happen in the last days before the Saviour comes. Many would wish not to know these things but we cannot stick our heads in the sand like an ostrich and pretend evrything is all right. We have been urged to prepare for such emergencies and that frightens me, for am little prepared for any emergency with a small storehouse and some water. I do have my 72 hour so am grateful for that! I've been working so hard on the grandkids stuff and my biography I am neglecting weightier matters! But all readers of my blog I urge to prepare for these disasters. And to repent and believe and have hope in Jesus, our Saviour and Redeemer. He tells us if we listen, obey and prepare, we have no need to fear. In China there have been massive landslides. What else is happening around the world? Dutchsince, a group that I regularly get emails from, reports daily of fracking and earthquake movements in Oklahoma and Illinois, and I think Colorado. So the United States is not exempted either. These are warnings. And for some unknown reason, I cannot download any photos from my files on the computer. A slip up with my blog! Arrgh! Below is th enews reports on the Australian national disasters. The Salvation Army has stepped in and requesting donations for those who have lost everything. What is my Church doing over there? I will need to find out

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle (category 4)
At 5pm WST on Friday 11th January, Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle (Category 4) was centred approximately 475km NNW of Exmouth and 790 km N of Carnarvon, moving SW at 7 knots.

The cyclone is expected to move in a SSW direction but still pass to the west of Northwest Cape over the weekend.

Gales with gusts to 100km/h could develop in coastal areas between Mardie and Exmouth this evening, then extend south to Coral Bay later on Saturday. Winds are likely to increase in the Exmouth area on Saturday with damaging wind gusts to 125km/h possible overnight Saturday if the cyclone takes a track closer to the coast.

On Sunday gales may extend south to Carnarvon and winds along the west Pilbara coast should ease from the east later in the day.

Thunderstorms in western Pilbara could be squally with heavy falls. This activity will extend into far northwestern Gascoyne on the weekend.
Issued Friday 21:28 EDT

HOMES have been destroyed in Victoria and NSW, others are under threat and there are now fears that the relief of a cool change will bring a wind change that could make the bushfire situation even worse.
Two homes have been destroyed and two people injured in a bushfire in central Victoria as the state also battles fires in its north and southwest.
In NSW, at least one home has been destroyed at Jugiong and another 20 are under immediate threat in that area.
In Victoria, residents of the town of Snake Valley, about 30km from Ballarat, say two homes have burnt down.
"We have lost a couple of homes," a man, who did not want to be named, said from the Snake Valley Hotel.

Deans Gap fire south of Nowra. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

The grassfire has grown to about 500 hectares in size and is bearing down on the farming community of Carngham where most of the 400 residents have been evacuated.
A father and son, aged in their 50s and 20s, were treated for radiation burns at the staging centre at the Snake Valley Golf Club after they had driven from their home to safety.
Rural Ambulance spokesman John Mullen said the pair suffered superficial burns to their faces and hands and were taken to Ballarat Base Hospital for observation.

A CFA crew tackle the fire in Sunbury. Picture: Kris Reichl

He believes another four people have presented themselves at the hospital for treatment for minor burns.
A Country Fire Authority spokeswoman confirmed two homes had been hit by fire in the Chepstowe area, as the grassfire casts spot fires about one kilometre ahead.
An emergency warning was issued on Tuesday afternoon for the Chepstowe district, as the fire burnt through the area around the Beaufort-Carngham and Station Lane intersection.
A blaze at Kentbruck, which flared up last Friday, has burnt though 9000 hectares, but a westerly wind has forced the fire back on itself.

A fire burns near Ean Higgins property at Kydra River in Southern NSW.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the fire was not expected to directly hit Dartmoor near the South Australian border, but the town was on the highest alert.
"We don't believe this fire will be controlled today. This will reach into tomorrow due to the conditions in southwestern Victoria," Mr Lapsley said.
Northeastern Victoria was also on high alert with wind speeds getting up to 60km/h and temperatures reaching the low 40s.
"It is serious fire weather in northern Victoria, it is very serious fire weather in southern NSW," Mr Lapsley said.

Eaglehawk Neck

"Fires that do start will run hard, fast and be very difficult to control."
Victorian fire crews would be positioned at Wodonga and Wangaratta to help respond to fires in southern NSW if required as well as blazes in northeastern Victoria, including Corryong. The Elvis water bomber had also been moved from Essendon to Wangaratta, he said.
Victorian fire crews were also expected to help fight the growing blaze between Cooma and Bega in NSW.
The 64 Victorian firefighters who went to Tasmania on Sunday will return on Thursday and be replaced with a fresh contingent on Friday.

Jess posted this image of the Yarrabin fire on Twitter: View of the #Yarrabin fire from Cooma #NSWfires. Picture: Jess@Aristophania/Twitter

Mr Lapsley said a separate small fire at Sunbury on the Calder Highway had been controlled by 30 fire crews.
An emergency alert was sent to 1400 people in the area, in Melbourne's northwest, via mobile phones and landlines.
In NSW, homes are under threat as firefighters battle more than 130 blazes in 40C-plus temperatures and conditions officially rated as "catastrophic".

Bega

The worst fires were in the south of the state, near Cooma, Nowra, Bega and Wagga.
A southerly change is now blowing through, but firefighters are concerned that the associated wind change could tunr fire flanks into new fire fronts and send them towards other communities.
Sydney recorded a peak temperature of 42.5C.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that "we have been very fortunate" in the face of "dirty, hot difficult conditions".

The NSWRFS posted this image on Facebook from a Line Scan aircraft, showing the Yarrabin fire in the Cooma area. The red and yellow sections show the most intense part of the fire, burning quickly through grassland.

More than 1600 firefighters were in the field or on standby on Tuesday night, after temperatures climbed and blazes fanned by winds over 70 km/h burned more than 60,000 hectares of grass, scrub and bushland.
Thirty homes were threatened by a fire 12km east of Cooma - 20 in the Kybeyan Valley and 10 around Mount Forest Road in the Cooma-Monaro area.
RFS Riverina spokesman Matt Apps said firefighters aimed to shore up containment lines on Tuesday night particularly at Tarcutta and the Wokolena grass fire and were watching a southerly change.
"The wind change makes it unpredictable," he said.

Adam Marsters posted this image of the NSWRFS state opeartions centre in Sydney on Twitter. Picture: Potter Media

At the township of Tarcutta, in southwest NSW, a bushfire burnt through 500 hectares and surrounded the town.
But by the early evening the Hume Highway was reopened in both directions with the immediate threat to the village passing.
However, RFS spokesman Brendan Doyle urged people to remain vigilant.
"If the southerly wind changes, that may push the fire back on to the town," he said.

Carlaminda

Meanwhile, just before 7.30pm (AEDT) the RFS issued an emergency warning for people east of Bungendore near the Kings Highway after a fire was spotted near Mulloon Road, possibly threatening homes.
At Wandanian, south of Nowra, the Princess Highway was closed in both directions on Tuesday night as a southerly wind change saw a large bushfire burn out of control.
"It is too late for people to leave the area," the RFS said.
"These people should prepare their homes and themselves for possible fire impact."

The NSWRFS also posted this Facebook image of a grass fire 30km north east of Conargo that has so far burnt 1000ha and is moving towards the township of Jerilderie.

Up to 90 per cent of NSW was in severe danger, with conditions officially described as catastrophic in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, the Southern Ranges, the northern and eastern Riverina and southern parts of the lower Central West Plains.
Three youths were taken into police custody on Tuesday afternon after a suspicious fire in Shalvey in Sydney's west.
Firefighters contained the blaze, which affected about 10 hectares of bushland.
A total fire ban will remain in place across NSW on Wednesday.

An aerial photograph of the Yarrabin fire burning in the Cooma Monaro area. Picture: NSW RFS

The Salvation Army has launched the Australian Disaster Relief Appeal in response to the bushfires in communities in NSW and other communities across Australia.
Latest from NSW
In Tasmania, residents and tourists stranded on the Tasman Peninsula for five days have finally been led out of the devastating bushfire zone as fire crews continue to battle blazes across the state.
For locals led out of the Forcett-Dunalley region, it was the first time they had seen the devastating impact the fire has had on their community.

But they have been warned the continuing danger of fires, asbestos and contaminated water could keep them from their homes for weeks.
Firefighters continue to battle 40 bushfires around the state, with five blazes still considered a major threat.
A fire at Montumana in the North-West is causing most concern, an emergency warning sparking the evacuation of residents from the holiday hamlet of Rocky Cape and the closure of the Bass Highway.
Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Mike Brown and emergency services minister David O'Byrne said it may be weeks before residents can return to their homes as regions, particularly Dunalley, were riddled with asbestos and contaminated water.

The first convoy of vehicles that were stranded for four days on the Tasman Peninsula finally make their way back to Hobart after leaving Port Arthur. A fire truck goes against the out-coming traffic after spot fires flared up near Forcett. Picture: Toby Zerna

Mr O'Byrne said 300 homes in the Forcett had their power restored yesterday and work was continuing to restore power to other parts of the fire ravaged region.
Mr O'Byrne said Workplace Standards had already started working on a clean up plan for areas that were riddled with asbestos.
Premier Lara Giddings said the Department of Health and Human Services was working on getting protective clothing so that residents could visit their homes for the first time.
The calls came as a team from Victoria arrived in Hobart to help search burnt out properties in the Dunalley region for the bodies of people police fear may have perished in the fires.

Billie Hasett, 9, visits what is left of her school in Dunally, Tasmania. Picture: Newton Matthew

Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Donna Adams said there were still no confirmed deaths but police were concerned about what the future may hold.
Ms Adams said there were about 100 people still unaccounted for.
Police will not release the names of the people they are most concerned about.
Rumours circulating on social media that bodies were being removed from properties during the afternoon were denied by police.
The Insurance Council of Australia said claims from fire victims in southern Tasmanian had reached more then $40 million.
But the damage bill is expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Tasmanian Fire Service continued to warn Tasmanians about the threat of bushfires with the status of a number of blazes around the state consistently changing.
About noon, the Forcett-Tasman Peninsula fire flared up near the township of Eaglehawk Neck.
Residents were warned it was too late to flee the fire and urged to seek the refuge at the local jetty and beach.
A convoy of trucks that had been sent to the region with emergency supplies was then left stranded.
Shortly after a new fire front emerged near Beaconsfield in the state's north before quick action contained the danger.
Serious fires continue to burn uncontrolled in Mathinna, in the north east, near Bicheno on the East Coast and near Giblin River in the remote south west.
Authorities hope a cool change today will help efforts to contain the fires.
Mr Brown said bushwalkers near the Giblin River been relocated by helicopter to a safer region and Parks and Wildlife personnel continued to monitor the area.
Ms Giddings announced the establishment of the Interim Bushfire Recovery Committee yesterday to oversee recovery efforts.

Sez O'Grady

family In The Wars

Friday, January 11, 2013

Wild weather?

Eaglehawk Neck

Bega

Carlaminda

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family In The Wars

Friday, January 11, 2013

Wild weather?

Eaglehawk Neck

Bega

Carlaminda

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A state of fear

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