horror

[hnpcc]

When I posted last night the toll was at 35. By the time I'd left for soccer 20 minutes later it was up to 40. Driving home from soccer an hour after that it was 65.

This morning it's at 108.

Brian Naylor's dead.

I knew he lived at Kinglake, but I was still shocked.

I mean, Brian Naylor. He was the voice of Channel 9 news for years. Even I, who barely watched commercial television growing up, knew who he was and his voice. I think for most Melburnians his death (and that of his wife) will be shocking. People like him don't die like that.

Except they do.

Last night ABC news was broadcasting from the Whittlesea Community Activity Centre. Channel 9 was broadcasting from the Whittlesea Showgrounds - that'd be where we had our engagement party. I actually recognised the place before the location title came up. Dean has been recognising faces of Kinglake survivors on the news.

Neither of us has recognised names from the deaths yet.

Kinglake is still so shocking to me. There was nothing and then it was gone it felt like. I was obsessively listening to the radio from midday until 9pm on Saturday, and in that time Kinglake was barely mentioned. It was so quick. When I rang Dean about the alerts for his parent's town it wasn't mentioned. It was all towards Whittlesea. By the time Dean got home at 6ish the town had burned. I don't know if there were sudden gusts or a wind change or what happened, but there was almost no warning for people up there.

Dean was wondering if "Whittlesea" was being used to cover Kinglake as well (it's a shire as well as a town, not confusing at all really), but the CFA are usually very specific about localities. They kind of have to be.

One change I noticed in the updates on ABC yesterday as distinct from Saturday was that they're now telling people when not to leave. As in, "Residents of X town, the fire is imminent, properties have already been lost. It is too late to leave - if you don't want to be alone and can safely make your way to a nearby neighbour's property do so. Otherwise, stay inside, shield yourself from heat. I repeat,..."

All said so clearly and calmly. Horror.

I'm wondering if that's a direct result of Kinglake and Marysville.

Oh Dear God. 108. And still rising. And still active fires going, now threatening the areas around Beechworth. The Bunyip fire is still going, they're hoping to contain it before Friday when temperatures rise again. The Churchill fire is still going. The Bendigo fire is contained. The Kilmore fire is still going.

108.

Edit: I should point out that the showgrounds were being used by the CFA as a staging ground for the Kinglake fires, and the news crews were there partly because that's where the information was and partly because they couldn't get into Kinglake because of road closures. The township of Whittlesea was pretty much missed, thank God.

Comments

[jamaisneutral.livejournal.com]

That is too scary...

[epideme.livejournal.com]

that'd be where we had our engagement party eeeep, that brings it into even closer perpective. I've been to both the places most seriously affected.

[hnpcc]

I should point out that the live broadcasts at the showgrounds are there because they're unaffected and at that stage the news crews couldn't get into Kinglake because of road closures. Whittlesea the township was pretty much missed thank God. The CFA were using the showgrounds as a staging/refueling ground.

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

I keep listening to the ABC stream online, and I can't help but keep making comparisons to the usual sort of disaster coverage we get here. I have to say it is much better than what I'm used to. Clear, specific information given by reporters who sound like they care (rather than vague-ish information given by reporters being exceedingly formal and at arm's length). Information for those unaffected about what they can do to help (rather than "the Red Cross is asking for blood" and otherwise leaving people on their own to figure out what they can do). The latter might also be one reason I'd never before heard a shelter organizer telling people not to send anything else because they have plenty. Also generally even news radio stations here don't suspend normal programming to cover disasters in this way.

Another thing I feel compelled to point out is that starting sentences with "Look" or "Okay" sounds combative to my North American ears. It's pretty jarring hearing non-exasperated sentences starting that way.

It's been an enlightening linguistic and cultural experience for me, aside from all the rest. It is seriously horrific, though, that comes across even though I have no idea of the real scope of the situation.

[hnpcc]

Another thing I feel compelled to point out is that starting sentences with "Look" or "Okay" sounds combative to my North American ears. It's pretty jarring hearing non-exasperated sentences starting that way.

Heh, divided by a common language. Again.

The ABC is the government funded public broadcaster, roughly analogous to the BBC. Part of its charter is coverage of and information provision during events such as these, and they really do pride themselves on covering it as effectively and fully as possible.

And despite every government's complaint that the ABC is completely biased against them (with the additional charge of being left-wing liberals frequently thrown as well) it's times like these they realise why they fund them. Another interesting side effect is that in Melbourne at least the talk stations take the ABC as a benchmark to live up to. Which at least leads to some better quality radio out there!

[valamelmeo.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely completely different from how things work over here. Our public broadcasting radio and television limp along primarily on the strength of private donations, and have a large percentage of syndicated (educational) programming, just because they can't survive any other way.

A presenter sitting in a refugee shelter talking live to various people who happen to be there (as is happening on ABC now) is something that would just never happen on public or commercial radio here, and it's absolutely riveting to listen to. Here the news (even the local) seems to pride itself on being as impersonal and detached as possible, and it just doesn't do justice.