Fires update and other nature events

Ok - so the fires in Victoria still go on but there was a bit of better news today with a revision of the expected final death toll back to approx 220 - they have been able to trace 70 + of the missing, believed killed to being alive.

Unfortunately the death toll currently stands at 210, which includes 3 firefighters - 2 volunteers and a professional firie who was working out of area to help out. Also there have been a couple of reasonably serious injuries, including members from brigades near me who were providing assistance. (Consider the fact that I live 800miles -1200 kms away from the fire scene and the enormity of the task might become a bit clearer)

On the other end of the continent, we have witnessed major flooding which has isolated communities and properties for weeks, with a number of deaths by drowning and one case of being taken by a croc (why any parent would condone, let alone allow a child to play near or in floodwaters beggars belief - floods are similar to wildfires, mother nature is running rampant and is totally unpredictable and unforgiving - to call playing in floodwaters "a rite of passage"
is akin to letting children play hopscotch in the middle of a major freeway.

Nearer home there has been major floodingto the south of me (Coffs harbour, Bellingen, Kempsey and a few areas south to Newcastle. I am under minor flood alert which is not a real issue to me at the moment - the river was rising on Tuesday so I pulled my pump etc out to high ground (dont need the pump at the moment, the tanks are full and rain is pattering on the roof as I type) ,and the cattle will work to the higher ground if the river does rise towards major levels, so all is well in my world in that respect as we needed this rain now to give us a chance to get some winter feed in the paddocks and some ground water back into the soil.