QLD Aussies!!!

[foreigncorrespondent]

You guys ok after the wild storms last night?

I also hear more storms are expected today! You guys hunker down and be safe!

[Matilda]

1. Global warming, anyone?

Ooh, sorry, I forgot, it doesn't exist. Must be the fault of terrorists.

[foreigncorrespondent]

2. Exactly!

It was funny too. I was just talking to someone yesterday about global warming. We got onto that subject after commenting on the wild weather Melbourne had on Tuesday night. Of course nothing compared to QLD last night, but still.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. What we got last Friday sure compared to QLD last night...

but I guess the interstate media may not have given it a mention...

Violet...

[foreigncorrespondent]

4. They may have, VC...

...but I never saw or read (except on DU) any news from last Friday through to Monday. If I had of I would have asked the same question about you guys.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. You and me both...

I'm in a suburb to the far south of the city, and while it was bad here, it was over quickly and there was no damage, apart from a few downed branches here and there. I learnt that my dog is shit-scared of thunder. I'd brought him inside once the weather warnings started happening, and he sat on the lounge shaking, and whenever there was thunder, he'd jump off and run around and literally piss himself. I didn't have the heart to lock him in the laundry, cause I'm scared of storms too. After seeing the emergency warnings flashed on telly about half an hour before it hit, I figured it hadn't been as bad as they warned it was going to be. It wasn't till Sunday afternoon, when I ventured out to visit my parents in another part of town, that I saw the damage and read the local paper and realised how bad it had been...

Even though they said statistically Canberra gets one severe storm every ten years, I tend to think the severity of these storms are being increased by global warming. I mean, Canberra got what they called three mini-tornados last Friday afternoon during the storm. That's beyond severe. And then not a week later, the Gold Coast, southern Brisbane, and northern NSW cops it...

This has increased my urge to migrate to the Sunshine Coast. It hardly ever gets hit by the severe weather that the Gold Coast gets, and my friend from work who lives on the Sunshine Coast has said the commute to the office in Brisbane is very do-able. Now I just have to convince the powers that be at work that it's worth their while to free up a work-point for me and I'll be putting my house on the market and I'll be gone :)

Violet...

[foreigncorrespondent]

6. Yep!

And don't forget the storms Melbourne were hit by last Tuesday.

I had rumblings in the morning just before leaving to attend wftd so I closed up the windows. All day it rained, at some points pretty heavy. But come Tuesday night, the rain was heavier again, the wind was howling, and we had thunder and lightening right into the wee hours of the morning. There was damage and flooding in some parts. Mostly trees blown down around my area.

Last Saturday I had been grocery shopping on the way home I jumped on the Frankston freeway and in my rear view mirror I could see this huge black ominous looking cloud. I swear it looked like it was trying to form a twister. I told my mum to check it out and would have grabbed photos of it when I got home, but alas I had houses in the way of it, and didn't plan on driving again, especially with that looming in the distance.

[Matilda]

7. There is definitely something happening.

Too many hurricanes, too many floods, too many droughts. Some people
think it's great that we're getting longer hotter summers, but it's
not really good long-term.

I don't know about the Sunshine Coast either VC - if the tides rise,
it's not going to be good for anyone living on the coast. I know
people who moved to the Blue Mountains years ago because they believed
that Sydney would one day face tsunamis, and I think they might have
been right.

Something's going on, and it isn't good.

[Esra Star]

8. These storms are becoming normal now, as long as we have

fair warning, we're OK.
Bloody good lightshows. Amazing thunderclaps.