SOS

27/2/09*
(*Posted in proxy by Josh W. Thank you all for the support, sorry we cannot reply until internet is re-established)

Help. It is almost three weeks since we lost everything in the fire storm. We are in a remote area and we still have no phone access. Friday the fire danger is so high that all schools and preschools are closed but we have no connection to help from here.

We have a phone connected to a builder’s pole that worked intermittently when first installed, but it has now been disconnected. As far as we can make out the underground lines are burnt and there are not enough left to service this area.

We have a caseworker, legal help and plenty of people willing to hug us but we can not contact any one with out a phone. We are in a black spot so there is no mobile coverage. We have been given heaps of mobile phones but they are no use to us.

We do thank the thousands of people who have donate money and tried to help. We are especially grateful to people like Scott and his brother Mathew who have just taken things into their own hands and brought us essentials like stock food and bottled water.

The situation here is like a war zone. Many of our neighbours are burnt out, several are dead and all normal life and income sources are suspended. The Yarra Valley is a tourist area and all the local operators are in financial crisis wether they were affected by fire or
Not.

Any one reading this please contact Get Up Org or political / media people. There was no warning about this fire here and emergency services were unavailable for family members that tried all night to get us help. Australia is totally unprepared for any crisis. Do not be deluded, insist on action now.

FRIDAY.

All schools and preschools are closed as temperatures sore again and the winds return. I woke to a dust filled dull red sky and the now worrying sound of wind. Then before I had boiled the billy the demolition guys arrived stirring up another cloud of dust with their truck. From then on all dissolved into chaos.

Two diggers began symaltainiuos attacks on the remains of the cottage and the twisted wreck of the shed. Dust flew in all directions and huge piles of contorted corrugated iron began to build up. I still had the goats to milk and animals to feed but could not start until the work focus moved to the main house site. Josh handed out dust masks and he and Edd struggled to move the caravan we have been loaned to safety. The diggers ignored our feeble efforts to maintain order and relentlessly plowed ahead.

The remains of our buildings have been something of a comfort. Old paths could be walked along and it merely seemed as if a new reality had super imposed itself like a vale over our former home. Now everything was being destroyed. The last thirty years of life wiped away along with any hope of retaining anything from the past.

I wonder if this is how old villages get their curves and little garden spaces. Old buildings must have collapsed or burnt down and their ruins incorporated into the village topography. Before bulldozers foundations and ruins remained and were recycled as walled gardens and so on.

We still have no phone. Every p0litition for miles around phoned Bo this morning with platitudes but any real action seems beyond anyone. Even the numbers Josh was given by Telstra for sat phone information refused to work. Our lives are dissolving into protracted hell.

Once the animals were done and the caravan moved Josh and I retreated to Bo’s place in Yarra Glen to wash away as much dust as possible. Simon was taking the boys to his parents in Ringwood and Bo and the baby were staying to run the restaurant though there is little hope of many customers today. Josh and I had lunch there to keep her company and then returned to our land with sandwiches for Edd.

Now it is Edd’s turn to shower and I am in the sanctuary of the site office on guard duty. The office is great but we have an ant plague, which needs to be dealt with. They keep running up my arms as I am typing. It is very hot but thanks to the free store in Yarra Glen I now have a sleeveless dress for which I am very grateful. It is so amazing that so many people donated their clothes and stuff. At least I have not had to rush out shopping every day.

Saturday
The wind has dropped and the air cleared. We have the week end to sift through the rubble our buildings now that the corrugated iron is no longer in a position to fall on us. Don has arrived to help and by the end of the day he has the rest of the poly igloo frame assembled . Simon from Steels Creek Estate Vineyard used his tractor to help us move good building materials to our new demolition yard. He has just got his power on today and like us has no phone .

I got extra shovels and rakes from the free shop and Josh and I began sorting through the rubble and wheel barrowing waste outside the “house”. There is little to find. Some of our gem stone collection survived and odd ceramic pieces. Two little ceramic door knobs I brought for my wardrobe look about new. Better finds are part of a brass horse shoe made by Edd’s Grandfather and a letter knife Al made for me at school.