A terrible day

This is a very sad day for AGA and I. 

As I write this 80 people are dead (25 of whom are firefighters) and I guess there will be a lot more. On Friday these people were alive and going about their daily work.  Probably they were complaining about the hot weather.  

Today they are all dead.

And then there are countless animals killed. Houses burnt down and whole towns have disappeared as a result of the bushfires in Victoria. If you read the news you will see such names as Marysville, Kinglake and Flowerdale. These are all places I know. They are also places that AGA went each year on holidays with his family when he was a child. Now all gone. Destroyed. No more.

But this is a small loss compared to the deaths and terrible injuries suffered by people. And then there are those who have no injuries but who have been left with just the clothes they escaped in while all else they had has been destroyed.

And some of these fires have been deliberately lit...

I won’t go into details as you can read it all for yourself online if you so choose, or see it on TV, however I will tell you that apparently the cause of these fires that led to so many of the deaths and losses is a result of what they call ember fires, starting as a result of the trees exploding and or the burning leaves being blown through the air by the fierce strong winds, and starting fires elsewhere.

The people of Marysville had no inkling that fire was about to erupt. Reports say that people are laying dead in the streets – there was no time to get away before they were engulfed.

It is a terrible, terrible tragedy.

I rang my mother today because our house is on the edge of suburban Melbourne. The 100km stretch of out of control bushfires is, relatively speaking not that far away although ti should be contained before it gets too close. She tells me that she is prepared just in case. various papers are all set to one side and the catbox for Henry is by the door. She says that while they are sure that Chirnside Park (where our house is) will be safe, people are wary and everyone keeps looking towards the fields and tree covered hills. There is nervous tension in the air.
She tells me she has spent a lot of time in tears over the deaths and losses suffered by people and the poor animals. She also told me that last night she went outside and looked up at the sky. At present the smell of smoke is everywhere and the sky is a dirty orange colour and yet as she looked up she saw a huge rainbow. She thought it very eerie and yet at the same time comforting. God with His people?

So please pray to Our Lord God. Pray for those who died, for those who are injured, for those who have lost everything, for those who mourn and for those who will be haunted by what they have seen for a long time to come.

NB: my two photos came from Today's edition of the French newspaper Le Figaro.