Monday 9 February 2009

Lord of the Weather

In a grizzly reminder that man is still at the mercy of the natural world, during the last two weeks Australia's southern states South Australia and Victoria experienced the worst heat conditions the country has ever seen.

Victoria sweltered for 4 consecutive days with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, with South Australia experiencing the heat over more than a week.
What's living in a a 43 degree temperature you'd ask, on a personal level it's like living inside an oven. You can feel your skin burn, your head ache, you breathe hot dry air, you lose so much moisture that you constantly feel dehydrated and restless. Nights are slightly less hot but not enough to get any shut-eye. Three consecutive days of that and you are at the end of your sanity.

At a metropolitan level, there arises other problems. Rail and tram lines expand way beyond their tolerance levels and buckle-up forcing the cancellation of public transport. The demand for electricity doubles over the capacity and causes blackouts, but worst of all Australia being the driest inhabited continent such conditions easily give way to massive bush fires.

The last few days have seen several storming fires raging across the state, taking many a people, animal and property with them. The death toll is over 100 and rising, with some townships completely reduced to ashes.

This includes the picture postcard town of Marysville I've blogged about here and here. I hear there's nothing standing in the whole town or its surrounds.

4 comments:

pissu perera said...

i'd complain about the menopausal weather swings we're having here but that would make me seem superficial (as if nothing else does :D)

when it's cold i tell myself i can deal with the heat but not the cold and when it's hot i tell myself, give me cold any day. at the end of it, i'd much rather deal with normal weather.

hope you guys are ok and that gaia would take a chill pill and settle down.

GG said...

Hi PP,
yeah we are doing ok, thanx.
But I know what you mean, In the winter I keep wishing for summer, then when the summer comes along and it gets hot, I think otherwise.

Amila Salgado said...

It was sad to see the death and destruction caused by the fires in the news. I can't imagine how people can cope with temperatures of 43°C or so. I heard from a reliable source at Horton Plains that in Dec, the temperature there has gone as low as -2something°C! Can you imagine sub zero temperatures in Sri Lanka?

GG said...

Hi Amila,
great to have you back. Horton plains can be a bit cold but sub zero??? now that must be a first.