Bushfires in Victoria

I have been putting off posting on this topic as I don't believe a blog is the proper platform to discuss it and I don't think I am able to show enough respect in putting a few words together about it. However, I think it wouldn't be right to 'ignore' what has happened either.

A week ago today I was sitting in front of the laptop in the same place I am sitting now, not realising what was going on in Victoria. A week later 181 people have been declared dead in the wake of the bushfires with many more expected to be found. Houses, wildlife and irreplaceable belongings have been destroyed. Thousands of people have been directly affected by the fires.

Australia used to be a country on the opposite side of the world to me. Bushfires only burned in areas that were thick in vegetation, in the middle of nowhere, where no houses stood. Or so I thought. Watching the television this week has brought it home to me how diverse a country this is. Bushfires down south, floods up north. My family in the middle. There but for the grace of God .......