"Hist! Hark! The night was very dark!"….. AND it’s Bloody Raining!!

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head……….heard that one before have we?

It’s a good thing you didn’t ask me to sing it!!!

This past month or so has been rather spectacular; firstly for the bush-fires all over the place and then………… down came the rain – mainly in coastal regions but certainly a few inland areas copped it too.

From flames to flood! You just can’t beat nature for extremes and intensity to show you how puny mankind is in the bigger scheme of things.

Dogs and cats got shown the door, buckets were thrown away, and ‘Hughie’ filled the clouds to capacity then wrung them out on us in extremely copious amounts ‘til the dams and rivers were overflowing and towns and country-side were inundated and swimming in it. Sadly as with nearly all of nature’s extremes, lives (human and animal) are lost as well.

And yes~! "Hist! Hark! The night was very dark!"….. the SES and Fire-fighters were not getting any rest!

We were crying out for rain to beat the heat and stop the fires. We just can’t be satisfied when our prayers were answered and we’re given a tad more than we wanted and needed and not all areas were given their share to quench all the flames.

Forget about ‘GLOBAL WARMING’ its proper description is ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ and despite all the political posturing and profiteering with ‘Carbon Taxes’ and opportunities for interest groups to hold their hands out for funding for this project or that, it really has happened all before and part of natures cycle the way it wants to be – not the way we want it to be. Get used to it and get on with it!

We are going to have extremes in the weather and we have to get smarter. Build on higher ground out of flood areas and areas which may go under with rising sea levels as ice caps melt. Build structures that will withstand hurricane winds and resist burning or collapse from earthquakes – it’s not beyond us, it just requires the will and fortitude to do it. Dykes like they have in Netherlands to keep the sea levels at bay. Very high levies around towns on river banks and move homes which can’t practically be protected in that way out of flood areas. Country properties should be built on hills (real or artificial) with similar high areas (constructed in need) to give stock and wildlife a safe refuge with hay & feed reserves cordoned off for controlled feeding. Proper sustainable fire plans and vegetation control – fires are part of nature. We can endeavour to legislate, catch, convict and imprison those who wantonly start fires that endanger property and lives, but we can’t legislate against lightning strikes and natural causes or accidents that start fires. We can mitigate the results with proper building design codes and materials and the clearing of fire material from close proximity to our buildings.

We know what we have to do, but………………….

"Hist! Hark! The night was very dark!"….. the dumbos don’t have the will and fortitude!!!!!!!!!

And YES, OF COURSE IT’S GOING TO BLOODY RAIN AGAIN!!!