The Fury of Mother Nature

Over the weekend I was shivering, cocooning my entire body under the duvet in attempt to keep warm, wrapping myself up in layers of tops and jumpers, a thick coat, gloves, hat and scarf. On Monday I came back into the house sweating after hanging the washing up to dry. Yup, I’m definitely back in Karratha. It does feel odd that in a matter of a few hours I can go from 10⁰C to 38⁰C – my body really doesn’t know what’s going on. The sky is blue, the sun fierce. It is strange to think that a strong cyclone is headed our way. We are off to the shops this evening to stock up on tinned and dried food, a portable gas stove and bottled water in case we get a direct hit or a near miss, which will effectively imprison us inside our house, possibly without power or running water. All that we can hope is that we do not suffer a direct hit, which can decimate homes and rip trees from their roots.


Watching the tragedy of the Queensland floods unfold brings home just how powerful and relentless Mother Nature can be and that with all the technology we have today, nothing can stop her when she is at her full strength. News of the floods has been broadcast 24/7 on just about every channel here in Australia and it is hard to tear myself away from it. It just seems to be getting worse and worse – with each hour the waters rise further, flooding houses, almost completely submerging shopping centres, leaving an entire stadium under metres of muddy water. Of course, that is all devastating but what is really tragic is the human loss. 12 are now confirmed dead, several of those children, and over 50 are still missing, many feared dead. All the news reporters keep saying is that they know that the death toll will rise. It is odd to think that just a month or 2 ago, Queensland was suffering from a terrible drought, with residents desperate for water. Now they are literally submerged in water but, ironically, are still short of potable H²O as sewage leaks and other nasties contaminate the water system.

What with droughts, floods and snowstorms, Mother Nature certainly seems to be angry about something. I’m just praying she isn’t angry with Karratha.