I heard about it on the news. I hope all our members from OZ and there families are safe.
Joe

Thanks for that Joe.

The fires are very nasty...approximately 40 dead and hundreds of homes destroyed.

They are about 2000km South of me, but from memory I think we have a couple of members in Victoria which is one of our Southern States. Like you mate, I hope all is well with our members down that way.

Cheers, Vince

Yah I just heard on the news about them too. Hope everyone is alright.

Dimitri

Wow!! Been lookin' at the news on the TV. Your fires are going to rivel or exceed california's fires...Keep a bucket of water close to yer feet...

This morning's news state that there is now confirmed 108 dead (estimate unconfirmed as high as 180 dead)
A cold front is coming to Victoria and it is forecasted to have a 21C weather today.
I hope this will help the effort to fight the fire.


OTOH, in Queensland, flood is increasing.. and storms, and rain..
a 4years old boy is missing, thought to be taken by a crocodile..

Seems that this little country of ours is getting all the natural disaster at once.

The government is pledging $ 10M to relieve the fire victim.. $10M !!
Goddam CEO of some corporations get more than that for salary!!
The funds just came to about $1000/ adult and $400/ child - barely enough to survive for a month..

WTF@!! Here is the two faced govt. Giving $$$$ to overseas countries but stingy when it came to helping brother/sister Aussies!!

You are right Gelan....the weather is going a bit awry here at the moment. Its 34*C here in Brisbane at the moment....bucketing down in the North with floods...and Victoria in the South burning to the ground...strange.

And to think, last year we were in the grip of the worst drought in recorded history.

My thoughts and prayers are with all that are in the way of danger today.

Cheers, Vince

I made sure that Prayers were said for you Aussies at Mass tonight guys.

Judy said to let you know that our thoughts and Prayers are with all of our friends over there.

God Bless,

Eric

Just saw some news on this and you Oz blokes are in my thoughts....

Back into your driveway's, have a plan and be prepared to sk'daddle at a moments notice.

Just awful news..... be safe guys.

-kevin.

Keeping Oz in my prayers.

Are there any private relief funds operating?

I don't like or trust the Red Cross.

Somewhere we can send cash for the victims or other goods, whatever?

I am glad to see Vince and most if not all the others are OK. My church and fellow citizens are putting together care packages and donated money for the people of Australia and it should be in the air on the way to them by the end of this week. All donated money is not going to the Australian Government though it is going to names of people effected by the fire that had been collected and divided up equally between them. I think so fare we have 20 names but I am not sure of the number.

May God be with you my friends and brothers, you people are the only true friends us Americans have today and we will do our best to help and stand by you as you have us.

lesterg3 wrote:

I don't like or trust the Red Cross.

Your not the only one. Anyways, best bet if you really want to help out in any situation is to give to the Salvation Army.

The Red Cross are worthless pieces of well you know. Their "Administration" fees will eat up most of what you donate with them. Even when they receive "aid" be it food or smokes, or anything else for free they will turn around and charge people money for it.

Dimitri

Guys...once again I am humbled by your compassion and care for your fellow human beings.

The fires down South are not getting any better. As at this morning the death toll is 170+, with far too many of those being children.

I believe that the Red Cross is running the Appeal over here for victims of the fire, and I am not aware of any "private" appeals being organised. I will however do some searching to find out what I can. I know that it is not uncommon for Churches to run their own appeals for clothing etc, but again, I have heard nothing at this time.

Eric, please pass on to Judy the thanks of the Australian victims on my behalf.

May God Bless each and every one of your and your families.

Stovepipe wrote:

Back into your driveway's, have a plan and be prepared to sk'daddle at a moments notice.

Unfortunately mate, these fires are travelling at such a speed and are so intense that far too many people that actually did this just didn't have the time to get away...there are many that have died in their cars. Whole communities have been devastated and destroyed by the fires.

These are amongst the worst fires ever recorded here in Australia...very nasty, and sad.

Cheers, Vince

Prayer go out to all our friend down under. Keep us posted Vince. Those are some terrible fires we are seing on the news. James

I love the the people of Oz, they have a swagger that the rest of the world should try and emulate. Chin above the plain, beyond our thoughts and prayers, I would hope if there is something else we can do that Vince and others would know they can post it and we will rally the cause. Godspeed to our brothers and sisters!

Official record this morning is 181 dead with up to 100 more might be in the rubble..

Sad time for us Ozzians for sure..

Australian Red cross is (unfortunately) the official donation gatherer in Australia.
This mornings tally is $31 million dollars donated from all over the world.
The main reason for it not to be more is that the Red Cross do not receive credit cards donations over the phone, this I believe, will be rectified today sometime.