On "the edge" of the 29 January 2011 Storm

It seems very little of Australia is escaping Nature's fury at the moment.  The big events like flooding and cyclones in Queensland and their devastating effects are well publicised.  Last Saturday our little patch - always on fire alert in Summer - became the latest casualty.

As mentioned previously we are forever celebrating at any hint of rain and last Saturday we were experiencing very strong winds as a result of a cyclone well out to sea.  We were standing outside enjoying the cool and could see this huge dark cloud very low to the ground moving quickly from north west to north east across the back of our block.  The colour was an intense blue and red and we later found out it carried an enormous amount of dust - hence the red colour.  We watched the cloud head towards the next small town called Northam and little did we know the havoc already in its wake and that within an hour homes, sheds, shops and schools would be unroofed and cars crushed by large falling trees.  Then as we sat on the verandah steps loving the rain falling on our faces, the storm also devastated another small town called York.

We were very fortunate and lost power for about 6 hours.  We enjoyed a candle lit dinner on the verandah as we watched a kookaburra in a nearby tree, but some people in our town still don't have power now - 4 days later.  So next thing on the neverending list is a generator as even turning on a tap or flushing the toilet is dependent on power out here.

On Monday I drove along the road to Northam and all the speed signs along the road had been flattened to ground level. As I continued to drive and see the damage, I was very thankful that we were only on "the edge".