THE MEANING OF OZ - All you need to know!

@dlowan,

Here ya go. Marvellous Melbourne!:

Tracks buckle and so does rail system
January 29, 2009

http://images.theage.com.au/2009/01/28/362968/svTRAIN-420x0.jpg

This train stopped at Jolimont after tracks buckled. Photo: Joe Armao

Quote:

MELBOURNE'S crumbling rail system failed to cope again yesterday as tracks buckled and a record number of trains broke down on the city's hottest day in six years.

More than 100,00 homes in Melbourne and Geelong also endured power blackouts as heat wreaked havoc across the state.

Melbourne recorded a blistering 43.4 degrees at 6.15pm, its highest maximum temperature since January 20, 2003.

In country Victoria, the mercury topped 45 at Hopetoun and Nhill, while Adelaide fell just short of its all-time record, reaching 45.7 at 3.30pm.

Melburnians have been warned of more 43-degree heat today and tomorrow " raising the prospect of a record three consecutive days over 43 ..... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/national/tracks-buckle-and-so-does-rail-system-20090128-7s0h.html?page=-1

1 Reply

What a weird country we live in. I'm 1500km closer to the equator than you guys but hitting 35C is a rarity. Of course the humidity is 3000% and cyclones are a hoot, but....

...we do have water restrictions - we can only use sprinklers for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on alternative days (odds and evens according to the number of your house) AND, on mondays no-one can water! Draconian.

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@hingehead,

Yep. it's a strange country, alright. I suspect we're sweating as much as you are, right this minute, hinge. I know that Cairns humidity very well! 3 cold showers a day stuff!

Quote:

...we do have water restrictions - we can only use sprinklers for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on alternative days (odds and evens according to the number of your house) AND, on mondays no-one can water! Draconian.

Jeez, draconian is right! No watering on Mondays? My god, how unfair! Wink

I'm saving up my 5 buckets of grey water, sitting outside my back door, till things get really bad!

It is incredibly oppressive here this morning. Temperature in the middle 30s by 9 am. My local ABC is flooded with furious, sweaty rail communters stuck (again!) at point A .... Even more train cancellations than usual this morning.

I'm thinking today of dapad & all the country folk in northern Victoria. Please, no bushfires! The conditions are just "perfect" for flare ups. Hideously hot & ferocious winds. Argh. Fingers crossed!

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@msolga,

A work buddy just got from seeing Leonard Cohen in SA and said temp was appalling.

Olgs wrote:

I'm saving up my 5 buckets of grey water, sitting outside my back door, till things get really bad!

HA! If you were doing that in Cairns you'd have mozzies breeding in it and spreading Dengue - did you know we have officially been declared as being in a "Dengue Epidemic" by Queensland Health
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24942182-5005961,00.html

Mrs Hinge has a work buddy who has just returned to work after a month of with Dengue. Apparently she 'Would have rather have gone through childbirth for a month'.

URK.

1 Reply

@hingehead,

Quote:

HA! If you were doing that in Cairns you'd have mozzies breeding in it and spreading Dengue - did you know we have officially been declared as being in a "Dengue Epidemic" by Queensland Health

Yes know, hinge. My heart sank when I heard the report on ABC radio a few days ago. Apparently the Dengue threat is rapidly moving south (as the climate grows warmer), in our direction! Shocked

... and apparently, all the things I (& many, many others here) are doing, are supplying a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitoes! Stuff like: the buckets of grey water, bird baths (which I fill up daily - poor little feathered critters! What do they do to survive days like this?) ... & water tanks, which have been mushrooming in backyards all over the place, as a result of the drought. (I can't afford one, but would get one if I could).

So what's a person to do? Ya can't win, I tell ya!

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midday: no fires to speak of.

I started work this morning at 6.00 am and finished at noon to escape the worst of the heat. Will do so again tomorrow.

Weatherman predicting 50 C over the weekend. Hottest day since 1908

If there is a god or something simialr, please, no wind!. If the wind gets up Victoria is gonna go up like a neuclear bomb.

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@dadpad,

Thank god, dadpad! But tomorrow sounds pretty frightening. And 50 C degrees over the weekend, too! Shocked

The weather bureau says the worst of it will be over in Melbourne by Saturday, when the temperature should be back to the low 30s. I can well imagine everyone up your way is very tense & watchful right now. My fingers are very tightly crossed for you & all the other country people. No mad winds, please!

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Driving home this afternoon, I listened to a talk-back discussion, on my local ABC, about caring for animals in this extreme heat. One caller had moved her huge menagerie of birds inside, taking over the cool dining room. Another caller spoke of an (obviously dehydrated) possum falling out of the tree (at her feet, almost). It was too late for it. It was dead. Then she saw another possum, wrapped around a pot plant, in a sheltered spot in her garden. A bit of moisture there. Things are really tough for animals in situations like today. I worry about those with no one watching out for them. Sad

Me, I returned home to find my cat, lying on the front porch. The eastern, cooler side of the house. I'd left some water there for her, just in case. (She doesn't at all like being confined indoors during the day, though that's where I'd left her.) When I came inside, she did, too. (Why did she wait for me, before doing that?) And has been lying on the floor, directly in front of the air conditioner, since. (She hates the sound of the air conditioner. And detests the sound of the ducted heating in winter. In fact, refuses to stay inside while it's on.) Every now & then she gives me a little squeak. ("I hate this weather! Do something!") But she's not moving, not going anywhere. So both of us are holed up in this quiet, darkened house at a little over 5 pm. Strange day.

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I'm wondering how things are in SA, in Adelaide.
The heat has been far more constant & even more extreme there.

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@msolga,

Well, I moved out of my office this afternoon because it was too hot. I work high up in old nurses' quarters, and I think the air-conditioners date from the 60's.

Most people are having trouble sleeping, even if they have air-conditioning, since most systems were not installed with this kind of heat in mind.

Clients are calling and cancelling because of the heat in some cases.

Vegetation is crisped, and this will kill some trees.

So far (touch wood!) I am fine.

My place was 31 again when I got home today, and I was able to cool the place enough last night enough so that I could sleep without air-conditioning.

I know people who are sleeping in lounges and kitchens and with relatives, so that they can be with a cooler.

If I have a blackout tonight (there was clearly one today) I will sleep in the bath!

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@dlowan,

dlowan wrote:

Vegetation is crisped, and this will kill some trees.

We had two fairly large trees in our backyard. A silver birch that died last year and a desert Ash (precursor to the claret ash) that may not survive this year despite having acess to our grey water system. Next door on the nth side have a similar ash tree that died last year and neighbours on the other side lost a large tree (i forget the type). These are quite well established and large trees 50 cm diameter.
The yellow box Euc melliodora trees in the back paddock look well enough but there are many many very stressed redgums in the district.

Westgate bridge..... tragic, just tragic.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

Aghhhh, Deb, this has been going on for longer in SA than here in Victoria & has been more extreme there.
I can fully understand that folk could be becoming more than a little wilted ... say nothing of tired and emotional!

I just hope, when this extreme episode ends - that there's a clear break for a while. At the least. For it to go on & on & on is a recipe to drive some over the edge!

So ... if you find yourself in the bath tonight (in the event of a power black-out ) ... will this be with or without cold water to sleep in?

(How's Miranda? Is she coping OK?)

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@msolga,

Slated to go on for another week.

Yes, I will have cold water to sleep in!!!

Miranda is fine...but grumpy because she has no access to the balcony. Normally, I leave the sliding door open a smidge to let her in and out at will.

She'll have a go when I open the door a bit later on to water the plants, and in the morning.

I think she thinks the outside world will come to an end if she doesn't keep up her usual inspections and sniffings.

It's funny if I walk back home from somewhere and come the back way. Sometimes I can see her tiny little face peeking through the balcony railings checking stuff out.

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@dadpad,

Westgate: at a complete loss.

On other tragic things - I thought I saw a bushfire reported in country Victoria last night but I didn't recognise the town name. Anyone know more?

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@hingehead,

Oh - feel so bad for you guys. Dutchy has been telling me how awful things are in Adelaide... and power outtages starting. So hoping the winds don't pick up and the heat will die down. Take care y'all. Thinking about ya.

1 Reply

@hingehead,

hingehead wrote:

Westgate: at a complete loss.

On other tragic things - I thought I saw a bushfire reported in country Victoria last night but I didn't recognise the town name. Anyone know more?

Happened before lots of times, though not so publicly, generally...and the man usually takes himself out too. Or he kills the woman...in front of the kids all too often.

I SO hope the court did not give this poor, stupid man access despite reasonably based warnings that he was unhinged.

Or did he kidnap the poor little thing?

God, I have a bunch of kids scared their fathers are going to kidnap them....they are all going to be going apeshit.

I am concerned re the massive coverage...I hope this doen't trigger a bunch of copycats, and a bunch of people making threats to do the same.

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@hingehead,

hingehead wrote:

On other tragic things - I thought I saw a bushfire reported in country Victoria last night but I didn't recognise the town name. Anyone know more?

Date ..area name Fire name location condition Size (ha)
29/01 YARRAM DELBURN COMPLEX 6KM W YINNAR Going 2149

Over the hills from me to the south. Its a good size now but no danger to us. the use of "complex" means there are multiple fires in a given area usually originating from the one source. Some fronts have been contained. If the wind stays in the north it blow the fire onto open country where it will be easier to fight as long as fuel loads are low. ember attack on private property (homes, sheds etc) is the real danger.

This map should update regularily. Going fires are "flames" contained fires are "diamonds".

http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/fires/updates/report/Statemap.gif?a=2:57:12%20PM

TODAY IS A DAY OF TOTAL FIRE BAN.

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@dlowan,

I'm glad to hear Miranda is holding up, Deb. (Having had a few anxious moments with my own feline, in this heat!)

And I hope she regains access to her balcony very soon. It's obviously very important! Smile

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@hingehead,

Quote:

Westgate: at a complete loss.

Yes, extremely shocking & upsetting.

But, the media reaction has been very upsetting, too. So much about the family publicly revealed (poor, poor family, as if they don't have enough grief & horror to cope with, without their identity being revealed as well! My heart heats for those 2 little boys who were with their father at the time of the incident.) ... & so much information about the father (the "murderer") revealed. I'm seriously wondering if some of the published media information could adversely affect his trial.

1 Reply

5/6 homes lost in Gippsland. SW change is making it difficult

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