Drought breakers
Perth, Western Australia suffered through the worst storm in half a century on Monday 21st March 2010. For several hours we were at the mercy of the power of mother nature in all her magnificent and stormy glory.
We were lucky though compared to most, whilst our kitchen roof leaked and there was a waterfall through the light socket in the carport. The gutters may not have coped and there was a lake outside our house where once there used to be a road, we came through the event relatively unscathed, unlike some.
We had had little or no rain since the beginning of November, and then hardly enough to measure on the rain gauge. What we had were records, the second longest time without measurable rain, the hottest nights since records began and endless days of heat. To be honest most of us were hoping for rain – and boy when it came we couldn’t cope – we got what we asked for and then some.
In a pond close by, mamma coote decided quite late in the season to build a nest, laid 5 eggs and sat – waiting for her babies to come into the world. They were about a week old when the storm hit, the nest was damaged, the pond overflowed, but the birds seemed better able to cope that most humans. During the heart of the storm – pappa bird was finding material to rebuild, while mamma protected the babies. They didn’t need outside help, they knew what they needed to do and they got on and did it.
I waited for the storm to pass, heart pounding, hating the shrieking winds, the horizontal rain – but like mamma bird, I had “babies” to protect. I know my babies were 18 and 16 – but that’s not the point – my daughter was stranded on a flooded train station – going nowhere fast, we were losing light and with no power….
When I went to get into my car so I could fetch my daughter from work, I was greeted with some interesting sights. Grown men and women were wading through the water to take photographs; the neighbors teenage boys were pushing stranded vehicles (who thought they would attempt to ford the newly created river rather than wait for the flood to subside), and there was no way I was going to be able to drive anywhere. Then my son appeared, shoes and socks in hand – wading through the water – a friends father had dropped him close by and Eden had “walked” the rest of the way. As soon as my neighbour heard about my daughter – he got into his 4WD and made the journey to fetch my daughter for me.
The motivation behind it all was interesting. Why would you wade into a roadway to take photographs – fully clothed? Why would we all stand outside getting wet? Why did we – all of a sudden become a functioning community, where neighbours helped each other?
Of course, the parallels between the summer of the century and the drought breaking storm and most people’s lives is also interesting.
- Why does it take massive change for most people to do something?
- Why does it take an event whereby – tomorrow may never come - for us to say – you know what – I don’t like the life I’ve been living, and I am going to change it?
We can all be guilty of doing just enough to get through each day. Do we use our time effectively? Do we work on our goals? Of course not, most people are on coast mode – I’ll do that tomorrow.
What would be your “drought breaker”?
March 25, 2010 at 14:12
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