Amazing, Steve. My sister said that the petrol station was OK when they
first arrived at Kinglake yesterday evening, but was gone this morning.
The fact that the pub at Kinglake is still standing was the subject of much
talk at Hurstbridge today!
I should have said something about the communications...
Ruth and I have generally been able to call IN to mobile phones in the fire
zone. It is almost impossible for people in the zone to call OUT though. I'm
not a communications engineer, but I suspect that it has something to do
with the fact that the close mobile towers are destroyed, and all
communications are from more distant towers. Why this has this effect, I am
unsure. All landlines into the fires zone are gone, so mobiles are the only
method of communication. I have found that text messages IN or OUT of the
zone are iffy too.
I was asked about the situation in the settlement of Pheasant Creek, which
is between Kinglake and Kinglake West. My sister evacuated Kinglake this
afternoon and had to drive from Kinglake to Whittlesea through Pheasant
Creek and Kinglake West. She said that amazingly Pheasant Creek was still
standing - there's a well-known bakery on the main road that was untouched,
and other structures appeared OK. She said all that remained of Kinglake
West was "matchsticks" though.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve
Sent: Sunday, 8 February 2009 9:28 PM
To: Paul Dodd
Cc:
Subject: Victorian Bushfires update
G'day Paul
Your sister was lucky indeed - as was my sister-in-law and her family. Lyn
and her husband Paul live along the Healesville-Kinglake road a couple of km
from the main Kinglake shops. Paul and a partner run (ran?) the petrol
station/hardware store there since just before christmas. Lyn and Paul own
another house in Kinglake. Their sons and their families own two more. Of
the four houses and the store only Lyn and Paul's house survived. They also
managed to save their neighbour's house and one of the boys saved the pub
with a couple of tanks of water he had handy (I reckon he'll never have to
buy a beer there again).
We haven't spoken to them - comms are poor and we've been getting info from
other relatives.
Just on Friday Lyn sent me a photo of the King Parrots Paul fed at the store
each afternoon.
Cheers
Steve
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.233 / Virus Database: 270.10.19/1939 - Release Date: 02/07/09
13:39:00
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
