I am a Kiwi; I call New Zealand my place of birth and my home.
Growing up in New Zealand earthquakes
were the norm, we had emergency kits ready and dealt with them if they
hit. Luckily for me I never had to
suffer through the aftermath of a large earthquake. Small tremors were more than enough for me to
develop a healthy respect for the power of Mother Nature. I cried as friends, family and the community I
lived in as a Uni student were dealt the devastating earthquake that destroyed the
beautiful city of Christchurch and her surrounding towns. I watched as TV images showed buildings I
knew smashed on the sidewalk and those ever so brave men and woman of the
emergency services risking everything in the endeavour to help others.
I am also a little
bit Australian – my adopted home for 11 years is a beautiful country. I am lucky to have seen so much of it. My little brother has also adopted Australia
as his home and lives in one of the most beautiful parts, the Blue Mountains. As I sit and type this I am chatting to my
little brother, he lives in a small town which at the moment is situated
between two huge bush fires. Once I got
hold of him, discovered he was still there and had not evacuated I set about
giving him a lecture to be safe and leave early. He assures me he is fine, the wind is
changing and currently the fires are not heading towards him. As glad as I am for his current state of
safety (which is dependent on the whim of the weather), my concern turns to those
men and woman on the front line. Houses
are burning, acre after acre of beautiful country is being destroyed and there
can be no doubt that the men and woman of the emergency services and RFS have
left their own families to fight these fires.
Don’t even get me started on the idiots who think arson is a fun way to
pass the time, standing back and watching as their handy work destroys lives
and communities. There are currently
100 fires burning across NSW which means 100’s of emergency workers are at
risk. The emergency workers will be the
last to leave those areas where others are evacuated from they will stay until
the fire is out or is beyond all control.
They will see horrific things as communities’ burn, as wild life is decimated,
they may suffer injury and the sad reality is that they may pay the ultimate
price.
I want to thank every emergency worker
that is currently ensuring the safety of my little brother and the communities
that are suffering through this bushfire season. I want to acknowledge the workers who without
hesitation gear up and race into any situation, regardless of it been an
earthquake ruined city, a flooded town or a bushfire disaster. You are the brave men and woman that we
should all be so very proud of. I take
my hat off to you all, be safe.
Please feel free to comment below on any of my blogs.
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