A Day Spent in Hell

[canetoad]

We were given plenty of warning that Hell was about to descend on us. South Eastern Australia has sweated under a heatwave for the last couple of weeks with century long temperature records being broken left right and centre. The forecast for Saturday, 7 February was a blistering 45deg C, with strong northerly winds.

The extreme temperature is bad enough, but we dread those Northerlies. They blast and roll straight down over the middle of our scorched continent, gathering heat, dust and velocity as they go. They bring fires, dust storms and burning embers. We were inundated with warnings; Total Fire Ban, take care of elderly, children, animals. Avoid going outside - to the beach, anywhere.

I'm lucky, I have a good air conditioner. I closed the house up early in the morning as the temperature crept past 30 C. Usually on a Saturday you can hear traffic, kids in backyards - lots of general weekend noise, but not yesterday. As the temperature crept up and up, it grew silent, the only noise the wailing of distant and close sirens.

I live in a far outer part of Melbourne, barely suburban. These foothills to the north east of the city are dotted with small townships that know too well the horror of bushfire. Each township has a CFA - Country Fire Authority station. We are out of reach of the metropolitan fire fighters, the CFA is manned mainly by volunteers, dedicated and heroic. They are the salt of the earth.

At around 4pm the temperature peaked at 46.7 C. That's 116.6 F, the hottest on record. I went out to the back deck, but briefly as the heat sucked all the energy I had. Fully grown trees were dropping their leaves in a dry, brown shower, and hardy native plants were burned white. There have been water restrictions for a couple of years now and this was just the last straw.

By about 6pm the wind had swung round to the south west and was blowing off the southern ocean, bringing a dramatic drop in temperature. It was cool enough to get into the car, so I went into town for something to eat. People were emerging, things were springing back to life, but a cloud of smoke hung in the air and the scent of burning gum trees. Fires had broken out to the north of us and swept through a small township further up the road in the hills. This morning's paper say that at least fourteen people are dead but as the ashes cool down and burnt out houses can be searched, the number may be as many as forty.

There have been days like this in the past and they have been given names by the media. 1939 had Black Friday when 39 people perished. In 1983 had Ash Wednesday which I remember well. I don't know what they will call Saturday 7 February 2009, but it was the closest thing to hell I have ever experienced.

[undeterred]

1. Glad you survived.

I guess I would hate the heat even more than the cold. Here in WI we just went through a few weeks of sub zero temps... I guess that's -18 celsius or colder, plus a few feet of snow.

With either extreme, the power bill goes way up.

[canetoad]

2. Thank you

I've been following your extreme cold snap and the hardship it has caused. These extremes of climate are frightening.

[roguevalley]

18. Its scary what is happening to your country. I am fearful that your

continent is going to be the first to show dire changes. I can't watch the film of your fires. I wish you and your country all the best.

[underseasurveyor]

3. Glad things have cooled off a bit for you. Hope it stays that way

and I hope you get some rain soon.

A friend sent me an email (origin) unknown, of a series of pictures of a koala bear so desperate to find relief from the heat and the poor little guy came up to a house and they set out a tub of water. The Koala first drank and then climbed in to the tub.

Wild animals have to be pretty desperate to approach humans.

[canetoad]

6. Tell that to this guy

I know it's not done in polite society to have possums in your roof, but as long as he stays out of reach of the dogs, I'm not evicting him!

[lynnertic]

10. Thanks for sheltering the critter. Is that a piece of apple on the box of tea?

Good for you that you help the wildlife...

:hug:

[canetoad]

12. Yep, slice of apple

When I saw him/her sitting up there the first thought was to get it back up onto the roof where it belongs! Knowing what scratchy little varmints possums are, the apple was a bribe.

Have you ever seen a possum, hissing and shuddering and doing it's nasty act then you put a piece of food in front of them? It is so funny because they immediately forget whatever is going on and start eating.

In this case, I shut up the dogs, and went to grab him, but he sailed over my head and indignantly waddled out the back door and into his tree.

[underseasurveyor]

15. I wouldn't kick him out either

Very sweet of you to let him share your space for a while.

[xenussister]

20. Here's a link to that picture

Or what I assume is the picture. Scroll down. There's also a roo in the surf.

http://cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/02/how-hot-is-it-in-australia/

I hate heat. I feel so bad for those of you who are baking.

[Delphinus]

21. Those pictures

just make me cry.

[Lorien]

31. Is that a wild koala getting a drink from a passing cyclist?

crazy!

[ensho]

4. glad you made it and hope you make the next one

climate change is really doing a number on Australia

c.c. is making all and any weather event stronger

sigh

[canetoad]

7. It is ensho

and I wonder where, or if it is going to stop.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Many thanks for writing this. We get so little coverage about the world in our media.

I hope this gets more recs to share with our DU community.

Please keep sharing what is going on down there, canetoad :hi:

[canetoad]

9. Thank you dixiegrrrl

It seems kind of strange when you are going through such extreme cold.

[Delphinus]

22. Ditto what Dixiegrrrl said.

It's good that we can hear your story first-hand.

Thanks for being kind to the opossum. We are *ALL* in this together - although it seems the real rat bastards don't suffer.

[panader0]

8. Cheers mate! 116 degrees is common in Phoenix in the summer.

Tucson gets over 100 nearly 100 days in the summer. I live south of Tucson, about 4500 feet in elevation, but it still gets over 100 here often. So I know what yer talking about. Keep the Fosters on ice!
P.S. Like the purple leaf.

[canetoad]

11. lol Ta

As for the leaf, my first priority when it gets light is to go inspect the crop and see how they survived the heat.

[Warpy]

16. The good news is that those leaves are damnably hard to kill

as the DEA will be the first to tell you.

The bad news is that the constabulary look for them when they run out of useful work to do.

Stay safe and may your crop be abundant.

[canetoad]

17. They are very hardy

and they acclimatise to the conditions well, so mine have been growing out in the heat, with little water for close on ten years now. (not the same plants, I make sure I get seed each year - sustainable gardening!)

After the 4 days of 40C+ heat last week I noticed for the first time ever that a few leaves were sunburned.

[shanti]

29. we've had some of those

uber-hot summers too here in sacramento. i remember one summer where it was 113-114. when it gets that hot, you just batten down the hatches and stay inside your ac home. i shudder to think about what the people here did in the olden days without ac :(

[jwirr]

13. Thank you for sharing this with us. I think those days in the past

were intermittent but this new heat wave seems to be lasting for days on end. One may survive the occasional but this long run thing is going to destroy a lot of your way of life. Take care and do what you have to to survive.

[canetoad]

14. You're right

This one has been going for close on 3 weeks. The seven day forecast gives some relief but building again by next saturday. For the first time ever we had NO rain at all in January.

Thanks for the good wishes.

[bvar22]

19. AS a FireFighter (RVFD) ...

... my prayers go out to those who are gearing up and fighting a firestorm in that kind of heat. That is truly the edge of Hell.

Good Luck to you.

[calimary]

23. Good Lord - 116 degrees...

Dear God! I can just picture what you described - once the heat cooled down and people started venturing back outside as "things were springing back to life."

Glad you survived, and thank you for this vivid report. Whew!!! It's something difficult to try to wrap one's mind around.

[psychmommy]

24. sadly i was just watching something on the indy film channel

a film that was done in 2005. it discussed what the innuit and the folks in sub saharan africa are going through. what you are beginning to go through sounds like how it started in africa. we must slow this global warming down. this is insane. please stay safe and take care of that crop-it could be our next import-got to keep the masses calm while the rob from the poor to give to the rich.

[canetoad]

25. Ya know I was just reading the other day

that it was conventional wisdom that our cycle of droughts was caused by the El Niño weather pattern. Now there are thoughts that we are more affected by certain weather patterns over the Indian Ocean. I suppose it could be the same thing affecting Africa.

[Number23]

26. Canetoad, I used to think the apocalypse would begin in California...

now I'm convinced it's starting in Australia.

I'm currently in SA. It has been hotter than hell for over two DAMNED weeks. We reached 46 degrees (about 114 degrees Fahrenheit) about a week and a half ago and it has been consistently 37 degrees and up since. Today (Sunday) has been the first day that we haven't had the air conditioner running full blast starting at 6 AM in weeks. We got about 5 minutes of rain this morning, and this is the first drop of rain we've gotten in about 6 weeks.

It's been a ghost town here too. There has been no one on the streets. Our lawn has been completely scorched and bleached by the heat. Never in my life have I seen WHITE grass. Last I heard over 30 people had died here and I've been devastated hearing about the fires coming up on New South Wales.

Floods in one part of the country, fire in another, heat and drought in yet another. This summer has been absolutely terrifying. Please stay safe. All we can do is pray that hopefully the worst is over.

[Number23]

27. Oh, and by the way, you are a beautiful writer. Lovely use of words to describe the Hell

we've been experiencing here in Australia.

I've lived in the Middle East and have NEVER felt heat like this before.

[canetoad]

28. Wow, I believe your have had it even worse

than us Number 23. I'm sure that people in fire prone parts of the USA will know exactly what we mean. There are really no other words to describe it.

How are you going fire-wise?

[Number23]

36. Fire-wise we've had no problems... yet

It's just been so damn hot it's FELT like the whole state has been on fire. Add that to literally months without a decent rain... well, let's just say that the tension around here is almost palpable.

Everything is on high alert though. Folks are being asked to have "high vigilance" meaning "whoop the @ss of any fool that even LOOKS like they're about to do something stupid with fire." :)

My husband hasn't grilled anything on the barbie in weeks. And you know that has to be the most painful thing in the world to an Aussie...

[ferrous wheel]

30. Wow. Hopefully autumn will come along early for you!

cheers

[Arugula Latte]

32. Hope Oz can hang in there and make it through this Hell.

If I believed in a Supreme Being I'd pray for you. Alas, I do not. So, I shall hope that the universe sends you cool breezes.

Our thoughts to out to you ... :hi:

[canetoad]

33. We've the Bunyip

I'll say an incantation or two to it's mythical self.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunyip

[Tsiyu]

34. Wow

Stay safe there and sweet of you to provide haven for the possum, poor dude.

:hug:

[BlooInBloo]

35. A baby koala got the right idea....

From AmericaBlog:

http://www.americablog.com/2009/02/heatwave-in-australia.html
"The citizens of an small country town hit hard by Victoria's record heatwave now know how intense the temperatures really are — even the native animals are seeking respite.

Images circulating via email reveal a family sheltering in their home in Maude, between Melbourne and Geelong, when a koala walked onto their back porch and into the laundry.

Assuming it was distressed by the heat, the girl in the photos filled a bucket with water and — after a prod and a quick drink — the marsupial climbed in for a refreshing dip."

[yewberry]

37. Let us know how things are going, okay?

There are some very scary stories and photos coming out about your area.

Take care--I wish I could send some of our damp, cool weather your way.

[canetoad]

38. Latest news is horrifying

So far 65 dead. Around 30 of them not far from me. Still plenty of people missing.

The sirens I heard yesterday were burnt people being rushed to hospital. Around 500 houses lost (I think). Big fires still burning and firefighters hoping winds don't change and send them off in a different direction. Troops are being deployed with firefighting, earth moving equipment.

Things are bad in NSW too, with fires expected to strenghthen in next couple of days.

[EFerrari]

39. The reports on my local news look very, very bad.

Stay safe, canetoad. :(

[canetoad]

42. Thanks, I will

Worst of the fires seem to have passed. 95 dead, still counting as bodies are found, 5 of them pretty close to me. It's hard to take in the magnitude of these fires.

[eridani]

40. Well, Obama did say he was going to act against global warming

I hope it isn't too late for you and all the others down under.

[JCMach1]

41. 45 is a normal summertime day here... but when you are not used to such extremes

that type of heat can kill you...