Insane weather

It was the hottest day on record in Melbourne: 46.4 degree Celsius (while nearby Avalon recorded Victoria’s high of 47.9).

If I hadn’t run out of food and had been starving, I wouldn’t have risked my life by basking myself in the blazing heat and intense sunlight out in the open area. The dry, unforgiving wind kept slapping across my face and the intense sun sapped every available bit of moisture out of my system while I was stumbling my way to the supermarket.

Yet, I was the lucky one.

With the relative humidity standing at 5% and winds gusting up to gale force, one could easily trigger a fire by just a snap of fingers. This is no exaggeration. In fact, bushfires have been ravaging towns north and northwest of Melbourne. A couple of towns have been wiped out and a lot more are in danger. With a change of wind direction, the bushfires may expand to other areas of the state. Up to now 26 lives were claimed and the death toll is still counting as policemen and firefighters can’t reach those trapped in their homes or cars yet.

The extreme heat has put the already critical water supply and the electricity supply under further strain. Power outages wreaked havoc across the state and left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

The flickering flames and storming ashes on screen were too heart-wrecking to watch, especially when you knew there were people somewhere behind the scene struggling to escape. My heart, as well as other Victorians’, is with the homeless, the injured, and the deceased.

Luckily the sweltering weather only lasted a day and the temperature drops sharply to around 20 degree Celsius with shower today. Nothing has come more refreshing and graceful than a cool drizzling day after the raging heat.

I hope that the shower and cool weather can relieve the devastating bushfires or at least put them under control. Back at home, I have learnt to stock up on snacks so that I can hide myself during extreme weather.