Thoughts and Prayers are with our Australian friends tonight as news comes through of the horrendous tragedy in the State of Victoria.
It is being described as the worst ever natural disaster in Australia.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-Kevin-Rudd-calls-arson-mass-murder.html

And at the other end of the Nation 75% of Queensland is flooded.

Thanks for posting this, David, I have been so upset watching the news...wildfires out of control are so terrifying, and in this case, the casualty toll is horrific. Also, as you said, Queensland is suffering as well, with the flooding. It's a terrible situation, I pray for an end to it all soon.

Many, many prayers coming their way. The fires are as tough as they come.

Anne

Gosh and over 100 degree temperatures.
How awful.

Just devastating

Nancy

David, I have been following it on the news, so very sad.

Our very close friends daughter is married to an Australian and they live in Melbourne. They own several stores (like Target) around Australia, and the main one is in Alexandria, and they also have a home there that his parents currently live in. The Daughter and son in law are in Alexandria now, and their main store is being used as a staging center. They have lost one of their smaller stores, and a gas station (the picture of the gas station is in the hundreds of pictures on AOL). One of their employees has died that they know of. Tina, the daughter told her Mother that she had never in her life seen such tragedy and devestation, it was just shocking.
We are sending prayers their way as well.

We are getting lots of the news coverage here in the USA and it is heartbreaking !! This is just devastating. Prayers are with all our Down Under friends.

I don't know if I have the right to say this, but on behalf of all Aussies, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. The loss of life is absolutely unbelievable.

The temperature has dropped dramatically but the winds are still very strong.

I am visiting my sister in Victoria at the moment and the nearest fire is about a 50 minute drive away, so thankfully we're OK.

Lee

Lee stay safe and we will keep you and your family in prayer.

Thoughts are with you Lee.
When one watches the "News" these days
you feel removed from what is happening in the day to day stories they tell.
The stories coming through of survival,
devestation and "Hell on Earth"
give us all a wake up call
of what living on this planet is all about.
Take care.
We can only imagine what life would be like if a fire bomb takes everything away.

David: Thanks for your thoughts. We're not in any danger as we aren't near any of the fires but have been watching all the shocking images on TV. To see the way the cars melted and to realise they had people in them, is horrifying. We certainly live in a land of contrasts with the bushfires in Victoria and the floods in Queensland. Lee

Well, Lee (and everyone else in affected areas of Australia), please know that all of my Canadian friends are sitting glued to the television in horror, and all of us are praying for an end to this devastation. Tragedy unites countries without exception. It's all we're talking about here in Toronto, we're all aghast.

Lee and David, my thoughts go out to those in Australia affected by the fires. What a devastating event. I'm almost sure we visited very close to this area when we were on our Voyager cruise that visited Melbourne. So sad.

Lee and David - Sending the very best of thoughts and wishes your way. Stay safe. Having experienced a few years of devastating fires here in SOCAL, I truly feel for everyone impacted. It's a horrifying and tragic event, which, hopefully will end very soon.

Please take care.