Australian Severe Weather Forum

Here are three more pics taken from the Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd which used to be shrouded by the thick bushland growth right up to and above the roadside - I tried chasing a storm there once and it was useless because I couldnt see - things have changed now.

The first 2 shots were taken along the Whittlesea-Yea Rd near Kinglake Westand the 3rd is the general store at Kinglake Central.  Some of the gestures such as flags, stuffed toys and messages placed by locals, rescuers or others were reminiscent of what I witnessed in Greensburg after their tornado disaster.

This property near where Brian Naylor lived has been cleared.  While the view east to the Yarra Ranges is breathtaking, look closely and you'll see most of the distant terrain is burnt.  The road winding in the centre of the shot is Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd and the town of Strathewan is below this vantage.  My second shot was taken in the steep hills above Strathewan and the third displays the near complete destruction of Flowerdale.

These two shots were taken on the western side of a mountain as I approached the Gippsland town of Calignee after emerging from a dense rainforest on the eastern side.  We went from dense wet greenery to a black wasteland and the sound of the wind, and nothing else was eerie to say the least.  I will post shots of Marysville at a later time.

Thanks for posting those Brad.

Really paints a picture of devastation on a large scale! On the bright side it's great to see the new shoots coming back to the trees.

Let's hope we don't get to see anything on this scale ever again.
Cheers,
Shauno

I had the opportunity to travel to the fire devastated areas in Victoria last week whilst in Melbourne for the ASWA AGM. Myself, Rod Wallbridge and Michael Bath and our respective partners travelled to the areas of Kinglake and Marysville. To be completely honest with you I didn't expect to be absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer scale and enormity of what happened on that fateful day in February. Travelling to the "firezone" it was incredible to witness the sheer destruction of the countryside, whilst there was some growth starting to emerge on some of the trees the lack of ground vegetation was what amazed me the most. We stopped at the exactly same place as Brad did in his photos on the Kinglake rd and took some photos....so I won't post mine as they are exactly the same as his. Something we take for granted in our everyday lives is the sounds of nature, you don't really miss it till you don't hear it. This area was completely devoid of any natural sounds except for the hiss of the wind through the fire scarred landscape. I think that unless you have been up to the area, you can't really appreciate what those poor people in those communities went through. The cement slabs and lonely hills hoists paint a sad reflection of what once was. In fact when we drove into Marysville I didn't even know that we were in the town until MB pointed out features amongst the devastation that reminded us that structures once stood where only a bare patch of earth or cement slab now remain. In all it was a fascinating but a rather humbling and sobering experience. Its not something that I'll ever forget and I hope that this summer doesn't have a repeat of that awful day.

Cheers

Jason