WA Bushfires

I'm assuming many of you have heard about the bushfires in the SW of WA over the last week or so. The effects to individuals, families, towns and the region as a whole have been devastating. For those who don't know, this is a major agricultural region of the state; much of our meat & dairy comes from this region, as well as countless other foodstuffs. It's also a major tourist area, with areas comparable to the Barossa Valley in SA and Mornington Peninsula in Vic. Thankfully we've had firefighting teams from the Eastern States come over to help out; I only hope their services aren't required in their home states for everyone's sake.

Tragically lives, homes, livelihoods, and entire communities have been lost (the town of Yarloop was effectively wiped off the landscape within 7 minutes).

With the fires still burning, many people are also starting to realise the follow-on effects from such an event and have been caught unprepared. Specifically, major arterial roads are closed, the power grid in the region has been hit very hard, and what is normally a 2 hour drive from Bunbury to Perth is now taking up to and over 6 hours. Shortages of fuel, food, beverages, etc are becoming commonplace. I've had customers affected because we just can't get a vehicle into the area.

While too many people had no option but to evacuate (hot weather and strong winds eliminated any chance of defending many properties), it's amazing that so many people have been caught without basic necessities (such as water, stored food, etc).

This is an all-too-common reminder of why we prepare, why we must always be vigilant, and how the systems upon which we depend can be taken down by something as common as a lightning strike.