Summer has arrived – a bittersweet time. The glorious long days and warm nights don’t come cheap. As we have already seen fires and mini tornados have wrecked havoc across the valleys. Unfortunately the great price of being connected to the land is the closeness and impact of mother nature.
The often-terrifying close encounters with the weather’s fury provide glimpses into what is truly magic
about our region – that is the sense of community and the abundant eagerness to help others. Whether that is manning the fire hose, driving the fire truck, or sharing a horse float – so many people put their lives on hold to
help others.
On Wednesday 26th November the lightening caused what can only be described as chaos across the region. Apart from the fact that it was striking fires and damaging property and livestock – it had all water bombers grounded.
I was closely monitoring the social media and could feel the height of the anxiety and the underlying fear and then the relief and calm as the rain came. I caught up with local volunteers days after the fires to capture their
stories and I could still hear the fear in their voices. This was a big one. All agreed things could have been very
ugly without the rain.
Unfortunately for some, particularly those in Reagans Ford, Wanerie and Red Gully, the mini tornado ripped up dreams. Two years ago we celebrated Derek and Marek Fisher’s ‘Blooming Blueberries’. Despite frantic efforts to
save their blueberry crop, they have lost about $300,000 worth of the fruit.
Nearby Catherine Lee’s Olive processing plant was flattened – you can see the stainless steel olive oil tanks left standing. For others the challenges were emotionally costly as farmers lost sheep caught in the fire – despite their best efforts many could not be saved.
Like others in the region our thanks go out to all who did their best to contain nature’s fury and to all those effected we wish you hope and courage to soldier on.
Thanks to Martin Aldridge who captured these aerial images of the devastation across Reagans Ford and surrounds, and many others who shared their pictures, updates and stories here and on Facebook.
