Fire, Floods and all we’re missing is Famine. Australia is being rocked by crazy weather which in turn has brought with it some shocking natural disasters. In Victoria they’re experiencing what the media is calling “the worst fire disaster since European settlement”. In Queensland they’re having some of the worst floods on record as seasonal rains hit with force and cyclones cross the coast.

I’m not one for watching the news, there’s just so much misery and violence in the world I prefer the bliss that ignorance brings, but in this instance I can’t seem to get enough. It’s heartbreaking to see the wide spread devastation – the loss of lives, pets, homes, livestock, businesses and farms. To see what people are going through. Watching the tallies of lives lost, damage done and monies it will take to repair is hypnotically scary.

We were living in Canberra in 2003 when the Canberra Firestorm happened. I remember what that day was like and how it felt to prepare to live our home. I remember the noise, the heat, the colour of the sky and the uncertainty that all those things brought with them. In that fire Canberra lost 4 lives, 500 homes and 70% of its pastoral and forestry lands. We came really close to having to make the decision to stay or to leave, and I know what our decision would have been. We would have left. We were lucky, we never had to choose and we didn’t lose anything.

I grew up in North Queensland, and I’ve seen the impacts of flooding and cyclones. I’ve never lost family or property to either of those effects, but I’ve seen their impacts. My parents are currently living in Queensland, and in an area that has been significantly impacted by the flooding. When I was there last year we talked about the fact that the Mine that they work for needed enough rain to fill the dam before February or the mine (and therefore the town) would have to shut down. The area that the live in had enough rain in one week to take the dam from 4% to overflowing. There have been lives lost in the flooding.

A young boy, 14, lost his life at the river crossing that is at the end of the street my parents live on. A friend of our family was stopped while crossing the river and was asked to provide assistance. He held on to the arm of the drowned boy until he could no longer and the flood waters claimed the boys lifeless body. His body was found a few days later 400m from where he drowned. I can’t even begin to imagine the impact that this single event has had on the boy’s family and friends. Not to mention the impact on all those involved, especially the man that held his arm. It’s the same for the events that are unfolding in Victoria at the moment.

For Australia, this is our ‘Katrina’. In the same way the world watched as the US battled to contain the devastation and deal with the fallout, so will Australia be watched and judged. How will we fair? I’d like to think we’ll handle it a lot better than the Americans have handled the disaster on their doorstep. But it remains to be seen.

The impact of the global financial crisis will also play a role in this drama. It’s going to affect the level of support that we as a Nation can provide, and it’s going to affect the support that we can expect from other Nation’s. But it shouldn’t be an excuse not to lend a helping hand. It should also not be an excuse for the government to shy away from addressing the financial issues it is currently facing. In fact it can be an opportunity in a lot of ways to help provide some stimulus to the economy. Now is the time to be offering better opportunities to those that want to take up a trade skill – like carpentry, plumbing or an electrician. There’s going to be a lot of rebuilding to be done.

But there is something that we can all do to help out.  At the moment there’s not much they can do with physical supplies.  They need money.  So please, if you have any spare coin visit the following sites to donate to these worthy causes.  You never know, one day it could be you needing the support of strangers.

Major Australia Banks: St George, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac.

Major Aid Organizations: Red Cross, Salvation Army.