February Fighting Fit?

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

It's undoubtedly true also that we are all facing a significant year. Some things, such as the global financial crisis hit us all more or less equally. Other things such as climate change affect us all, but perhaps in different ways. The recent heatwaves here have yielded ferocious bushfires, unsurprising in one sense, yet devastatingly shocking in their savagery, given this is a country well used to them and very well prepared for such catastrophes.

As I write, 130 people have been confirmed dead in this week's fires, and the photos and videos show just how incredibly different the world's climate now is. Ferocious firestorms hurtling across flat terrain like flamethrowers faster than you can drive, and tornados of flame spawned by hellish storms of fire generating their own lightning have all been well documented, at considerable cost to the people on the scene. I work for the government broadcaster here and we came close to losing two journalists and a technician to the fires. A now retired newsreader and his wife both did perish in the flames.

Every year we experience terrible bushfires, but this is like nothing ever seen before. We're talking about communities who know and understand bushfires - where to lose one or two lives to carelessness or extreme bad luck may be expected, but no more than that. For 130 people to die in a well prepared state with properly equipped and highly skilled personnel just beggars belief.

I honestly don't know what else to say.

Unbelievable.