2009MAR072134
Black Saturday +day28
update latest news
The basics
If you have food, water and shelter you can survive. I've written more about this here, Doing the dishes.
Water
"Frank - the tank". A 63,000 litre fresh water tank that is filled up with bore water. Frank is "gal-clad" (galvenised steel) tank set on a concrete base, surrounded by stones. To save the tank from rust, there is a plastic inner lining. During the firestorm the inner-lining burnt to the water line. There is also a chance the tank is damaged as well. The end result, no water storage. One of the first things I did was climb up the ladder and take a full 360 view of the area. At some time I'll add the shots.
The water problem is repeated for most of the properties in the Kinglake area. I'm pretty sure it's also repeated for all the fire effected areas that capture their own water. The fire might be over, the rain might be falling but something as simple as provisioning of water is still a problem, at least in Kinglake West and the general Kinglake area. The result of not getting this right can be read in this article, Fire victims' relief crisis.
This is the reason we delivered the shutz and the 2 other containers for water. You simply can't muck-about with water supplies in Australia in summer. After a bushfire this is doubly so, because all above-ground water tanks are potentially wrecked, roofline water collection can be damaged or compromised.
Current Status
When I rang Dad not long after the relief crisis article he confirmed the poor state of provisions. When the responsibility moved from Federal, state to municipal, food distribution and water where shut down. Army tankers dismissed.
Dad was also grateful for "K" getting access to the tanks and wanted to know how to get them back to him when finished. I told him this is not to be worried about. They will go back but at some future date. Until the tank is either fixed, repaired. The tank-man is coming up soon to inspect Frank. There is also another potential problem with the only reliable water supply, the bore. Contamination. It's not known if the fire will have any direct effect on water quality due to dissolved chemicals.
Dad also talked about assembling the portable water tanks. They have internal, replaceable bladders. Ideal for fresh water storage. He and an Uncle placed them near the house and assembled them, filled them with water. I asked if he used the spare pallets? But no he used bricks (add image later).
The birds are starting to come back. From Parrots to finches, they are all finding their way back. The bombshell was a section-80 delivered by the local constabulary on non-official looking papers. They explicitly prohibit the clearing of any damage on the property until further instruction. (add image of coroner).
One question I did ask Dad, was "why did you leave when the fire-front was approaching?" His answer, "I had an absolute sense of foreboding". The house survived, so he would have been all right but the cars would not have. So did he do the right thing at the time? As it turns out, yes. Who can blame him for wanting to leave?
next >>>
2009MAR072134
Black Saturday +day28
update latest news
The basics
If you have food, water and shelter you can survive. I've written more about this here, Doing the dishes.
Water
"Frank - the tank". A 63,000 litre fresh water tank that is filled up with bore water. Frank is "gal-clad" (galvenised steel) tank set on a concrete base, surrounded by stones. To save the tank from rust, there is a plastic inner lining. During the firestorm the inner-lining burnt to the water line. There is also a chance the tank is damaged as well. The end result, no water storage. One of the first things I did was climb up the ladder and take a full 360 view of the area. At some time I'll add the shots.
The water problem is repeated for most of the properties in the Kinglake area. I'm pretty sure it's also repeated for all the fire effected areas that capture their own water. The fire might be over, the rain might be falling but something as simple as provisioning of water is still a problem, at least in Kinglake West and the general Kinglake area. The result of not getting this right can be read in this article, Fire victims' relief crisis.
This is the reason we delivered the shutz and the 2 other containers for water. You simply can't muck-about with water supplies in Australia in summer. After a bushfire this is doubly so, because all above-ground water tanks are potentially wrecked, roofline water collection can be damaged or compromised.
Current Status
When I rang Dad not long after the relief crisis article he confirmed the poor state of provisions. When the responsibility moved from Federal, state to municipal, food distribution and water where shut down. Army tankers dismissed.
Dad was also grateful for "K" getting access to the tanks and wanted to know how to get them back to him when finished. I told him this is not to be worried about. They will go back but at some future date. Until the tank is either fixed, repaired. The tank-man is coming up soon to inspect Frank. There is also another potential problem with the only reliable water supply, the bore. Contamination. It's not known if the fire will have any direct effect on water quality due to dissolved chemicals.
Dad also talked about assembling the portable water tanks. They have internal, replaceable bladders. Ideal for fresh water storage. He and an Uncle placed them near the house and assembled them, filled them with water. I asked if he used the spare pallets? But no he used bricks (add image later).
The birds are starting to come back. From Parrots to finches, they are all finding their way back. The bombshell was a section-80 delivered by the local constabulary on non-official looking papers. They explicitly prohibit the clearing of any damage on the property until further instruction. (add image of coroner).
One question I did ask Dad, was "why did you leave when the fire-front was approaching?" His answer, "I had an absolute sense of foreboding". The house survived, so he would have been all right but the cars would not have. So did he do the right thing at the time? As it turns out, yes. Who can blame him for wanting to leave?
next >>>