Devastating natural disasters hit Australia and New Zealand



Yasi

The past couple of weeks have been horrific with massive casualties and damage to land and life in Australasia caused by natural disasters.  There have been flooding, cyclones and earthquakes.

There was massive flooding in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in January 2011.  Many people lost everything, their homes, livelihood, personal possessions and some people died.  It was devastating for everyone.  Some children died which I found quite distressing and at that point opted to ignore some media coverage.  It was very upsetting.  Many people have rallied to donate food and clothes, and other things people need.  Much support has been provided from people all over Australia.

I saw some video footage taken at Toowoomba QLD on You Tube.  Some people were watching the river near their house (through the window) as it grew bigger and bigger, and eventually covered the bridge.  It also started to move the cars that were parked in the car park right next to the river.  Eventually all of the cars were engulfed by water and taken downstream.  The brutal strength of the river was incredible to move tonnes of metal pushed under the water like a small toy.  The footage also showed a man trying to save his four wheel drive.  First of all he let down the tyres and was holding onto the car only by one hand as the other had an umbrella to stop the rain.  I could not beleive my eyes.  He was actually risking his life.  He then got in the vehicle and drove away but only just made it as another car washed through were his car was  previously.  Totally intense. Here is some video footage posted on You Tube taken at Toowoomba QLD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUpkPTcqPY

Cyclone Yasi's path

Then about two weeks ago in the early hours of the morning on the 3 February there was the tropical Yasi cyclone in Queensland that destroyed hundreds of homes and some people were killed.  It was a category five which is the strongest on scale for this type of cyclone.

It was pretty scary watching on television the people all hiding in the local shopping centre waiting for the storm.  People did not know what to expect.  Some people decided to stay in their homes and others fled for their lives.  It was massive with winds up to  300 kilometres per hour.  People were told not to leave their homes because that could be the eye of the storm as it would start again, and they could be caught up in that.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_Tropical_Cyclone_Yasi 

Thank goodness there was not massive loss of life. But it has destroyed many farms and killed a lot of wild life and farm animals.  Crops have been destroyed like banana's and other things that are grown in the region.  We are all paying top dollar $8 for banana's and the price of everything else has gone up.

Yesterday something terrible happened in Christchurch New Zealand.  There was a massive earth quake.  High sky rise buildings were reduced to piles of rubble with people trapped inside.  Especially building in the central business district were affected.  As I write New Zealanders are saving people's lives.  A lot of people are trapped in buildings, they can be heard yelling for help, tapping, and making phone calls to be saved.  It's so sad. 

I saw some media coverage on television which was very upsetting.  People were being carried out of buildings that had been totally flattened.  Blood all over them, some people had to have limbs removed so they could be saved from underneath slabs of cement.  There's been massive loss in life.  New Zealand is like our closest cousin/neighbouring country, they are like our family.  I am so sad for them at the moment.  According to news coverage, the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3 as reported in this online article http://www.makli.us/new-zealand-earthquake-0072461/.  The media is currently reporting on anything, so I am not exactly sure of all of the details.  All I know is that it is very serious.  It is very distressing.

Christchurch's earth quake Feb 2011

So what is happening to us at the moment.  The weather has been very unusual.  Even in Adelaide we have had a cooler summer, with an abundance of water and cooler days which is amazing because usually we have the driest and hottest summers.  Most of the plant life dies during the summer months unless it is really hardy and sometimes animals die because of the heat.  Now all of these natural disasters have been surrounding our neighbours too. Lets pray for the safety of all those directly affected.