Floods, fires, climate responses.

Our Sydney weatherman loves records and our weather is providing him with plenty to talk about. In late 2022 it was all about rain, how much we've had and how much was still coming.  Now he is talking about temperature and the fact that it is a long time, 140 years, since Sydney, the part of Sydney on the seaboard at least, has had such a long run of below 30⁰C days. Our summer has been very variable so far but also unseasonably cool. Yesterday the run of cool days was broken with a hot humid day, but barely over 30⁰. A cool change and rain deluge swept in from the south last night and today is a moist 23⁰C. 

La Niña is expected to ease over summer but the thought of El Niño doesn't bring much joy. The bushfires in 2019/20 are still vivid in our memories and now we know that their increased ferocity makes it impossible for people to stay and defend their homes we are not nearly as sanguine. 

Floods, fire and our industry-captured governments continue to approve new gas exploration and forest-felling licences while legislating more draconian punishments for people who protest them. Perhaps the only way for the population to save themselves will be to drop tools and simply sit down on the streets, Mahatma Gandhi fashion. 

Water

This summer has been cloudy, or rainy or stormy and after so much wet the water has nowhere to go. This morning's photo is similar to any I could have taken over the past four months. 

I feel so sorry for the many who have had their homes destroyed by the floods and who are having to wait such a long time for help from our tardy governments, state and federal. I live on a hill but even here we have had an overflowing stormwater drain that is causing problems. The drain is broken and blocked, probably ever since the NBN was installed. My neighbours tell me the pit was open for months and now the storms are here that is the very place causing problems. 

I've been washing the stones my predecessor put along the wall. They had become slimy and smelly in standing water. I left an empty bucket outside last night with stones in the botzom - it became a sort of rain gauge.

Australia, land of extremes

After months of fires, the East Coast of Australia now has floods. During the fires the Australian Broadcasting Service (ABC) did a wonderful job of keeping people informed about which areas were under threat, when they should leave adn where they should go. Yesterday afternoon and evening  the same team were again giving evacuation advice, but this time for floods. After two days of torrential rain,  300mm fell on many parts of Sydney overnight  and 500mm on the Blue Mountains. Transport is in chaos today and people are being advised to work from home today if they can.

I read now that south coast people now approach ABC staff to thank them for help in desperate times. In many cases, with power off and no wifi, these people were dependent on battery radios for their information and the ABC was the outstanding performer.

It is hard to believe, but our far-right wing government favours a commercial station over their own ABC, paid for and owned by the Australian people. They have cut the ABC and cut it again, and more cuts are planned. They don't like having a broadcaster that is neutral and tells the truth. Who cares that they are the best source of information by a country mile? Woe is us.

Some trickster has doctored a photo of the harbour bridge to make it appear like a waterfall. Probably some will believe it, such is fake news in our era. If you want to see a real waterfall, search for Wentworth Falls on google. Those falls in the Blue Mountains are bucketing down the cliff after so much rain.

Fake floods - tricksters phototshopped image

Real floods in Sydney yesterday (photo: ABC)