The wind is the scary thing

When a storm hits with cyclonic winds and heavy rain it is the wind that is frightening. It is so loud. I have read about wind noise but this latest storm was the first time I had experienced such strong winds.

Debris on the front lawn from the big gum tree..

 Finally the rain has stopped and we have been able to get outside to clear up some of the debris.The storm clouds still hover but the worst seems to be over.

The Hunter Valley just north west of here is flooded. Here is a link to a video taken by the Rescue Helicopter over the Hunter Valley .

Magdeburg waters

Floods in Magdeburg (Reuters/Thomas Peter photo)

Floods in the German town of Magdeburg. Will this become the iconic global warming photo?

Dresden under water

Dresden, June 2013

Dresden is a city I have long wanted to visit but never quite reached. In 2006 I was planning a visit but the city flooded, undoing much of the work of the just-completed and much vaunted city renovations.

Now the water is rising again and the Dresdner Semperoper is cancelling opera performances.  I shall have to plan my visit out of the rainy season as floods are predicted to get more frequent.

First heat, then flood

Blueberry bush with heat-dried leaves (left),puddle with umbrella reflection (middle) and wet shoes(right)

The leaves of the poor little blueberry bush that I have been nurturing were burnt by the 46C heat last week ... and now we have a major rain storm.  Australia has always had extreme weather but it is getting even more erratic with global warming. The poor folks in southern Queensland are faced with flooded houses yet again, the second time in two years. One in a hundred year floods are becoming one in ten year floods, or one in two year floods.

Local school ...