Disasters & Emergencies

We�re heading into that time of year again in Queensland, where the conditions become perfect for severe weather events. Being sub-tropical, the heat of spring brings moist air currents, electrical storms, cyclones & flooding. While 2013-2014 is not expected to bring the heavy deluges of rain seen previously (eg Nov 2011), we�re still bracing for impressive electrical storms & their damaging winds plus the possibility of cyclones in the north of the state. I won�t go into the weather patterns that produce these, other than to say we are in a �neutral� phase (neither La Nina or El Nino).

When you grow up in a city and leave it, you carry a piece of it with you. Whenever it�s mentioned, whenever you hear from friends or family there, one particular heartstring is tugged, still reserved for that place and connected to those memories.

This is why, 2 years after a 6.3 earthquake that killed 185 people and literally brought the city down in a cloud of dust .. you grieve too. As the world around you carries on with a normal Friday, you look at everything with different eyes again.