auzzi fires

[DeadlyDaring]

Statewide Current Incident Summary
http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/incidents/...nt_summary.htm

10/02/2009 5:20 :26 AM
Fires rage as death toll rises to 173
Victoria Police on Tuesday confirmed that 173 people have perished in the bushfires across the state.

The toll has risen by seven since 2am (AEDT) on Tuesday with three more bodies found at the wiped-out town of Marysville, taking the toll there to 15, and four more bodies at Strathewen where the toll there is now 30.

Firefighters will again have their hands full as southerly winds pick up in central, northeast and eastern Victoria with little rain in sight as 24 fires continue to rage.

Residents of the previously safe Healesville, where survivors have gathered for refuge, have been warned to be vigilant for fire embers.

The town is surrounded by devastation with huge plumes of smoke billowing from the nearby hills.

[DeadlyDaring]

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR VICTORIAN BUSH FIRES
http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2...lease_0800.cfm


The horror and devestation of bushfires
the following is a gallery of Victoria's killer fires
79 photos
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...006020,00.html

[DeadlyDaring]

Whittlesea devastated by bushfires

Whittlesea devastated by bushfires on Yahoo!7...

So far Aussie’s have donated $13,198,221 in public donations for the VICTORIAN bushfire appeal

Phone Australia 1800 811 700 if you would like to help out

[DeadlyDaring]

Bushfires in Victoria - 7 News Part 1

YouTube - Bushfires in Victoria - 7 News Part 1

There are alot more of this stuff on youtube, so I will leave the rest up to you all

Once again thank you all for your thoughts

[DeadlyDaring]

Bushfires in Victoria - 7 News Part 2
http://www.uzood.com/video/12395/Bus...-7-News-Part-2

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...423565321.html

[DeadlyDaring]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7878128.stm?lss

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7879097.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/...es/7878805.stm

[DeadlyDaring]

It has just come across the news and TV that another 143 bodies have been recovered by the police today ..As yet the police have not confirmed this ... the current official talley is 183 and if the 143 are added..........
Sorry I must get back to the bulliten thats just come in (recording)

PS as all of you may have kids etc ...two teenage girls were found incinirated trying to save their horses next to the horses

[DeadlyDaring]

[darrels joy]

Australian Jewish community pitches in to aid fire victims
Feb. 9, 2009
tori cheifetz , THE JERUSALEM POST

As bushfires raged in the Australian state of Victoria, the state's Jewish community launched a massive relief campaign, supplying food and clothing, making monetary donations and offering to host hundreds of residents who have lost their homes.

While watching the news on Sunday night, Michael Spektor and Glynis and Emma Lipson decided they had to do something to help the victims of the bushfires.They sent e-mails, made telephone calls and organized an event on Facebook called "Donation for Fire Relief," appealing for contributions of food and clothing from Victoria's Jews.

"This isn't our [Jewish] community, but they're our fellow Victorians," explained Spektor, who is using his cafe as a drop-off point for supplies to be sent to victims.

"To say that it's a situation of total devastation is putting it mildly," said Glynis Lipson, who is co-president of the Victoria branch of Magen David Adom (MDA).

"The response of the Jewish community has been amazing," she added. "In addition to personal donations, pharmacies and supermarkets have donated baby milk powder, soap, diapers, shampoo, conditioner - everything. These people have nothing except the clothes on their backs."

Lipson's daughter Emma, also active in MDA, was surprised by the extent of the donations they had received since first putting out the call on Sunday night.

"At two of our drop-off points, the homeowners could not enter their houses because of the mountain of supplies that people had dropped off," she said.

Spektor and the Lipsons are working with the Salvation Army to deliver the material to the disaster areas.

"We are collecting, sorting and packaging the supplies, and passing them off to the Salvation Army for distribution," explained Emma.

The areas hardest hit by the bushfires do not have large Jewish communities.

Nevertheless, Marysville, one of the cities that have been devastated, has been a popular Pessah destination for religious Jews from Melbourne. It has been cordoned off by police, who were still removing bodies from the streets.

According to Emma Lipson, Jews who have frequented Marysville's vacation spots have called up and offered to host city residents who lost their homes. She added that the state branch of MDA had never before waged a relief campaign of this proportion.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here," she said. "This has really affected the people of Victoria."

Jewish community support for the relief effort, however, has not been limited to Victoria.

"We have received truckloads of donations from as far away as Canberra and Sydney," Glynis Lipson said.

The Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) has partnered with Magen David Adom and Jewish Aid Australia to provide "practical and spiritual help" to victims of the bushfires, according to a press release.

"It is impossible to comprehend the magnitude of the disaster that has struck Victorian families, so quickly and so brutally," said John Searle, JCCV president, in Monday's statement.

"It is equally difficult to understand the courage and fortitude shown by emergency services and ordinary people alike. Yet now is not a time for reflection. Rather, it is a time to provide practical and spiritual solace and this is what we are requesting of our community."

JCCV has asked for donations of food and clothing to be sent to MDA, and monetary donations to Jewish Aid Australia.

Other Jewish organizations participating in the relief efforts include B'nai B'rith, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, the Union for Progressive Judaism, Shira Hadasha, the National Council of Jewish Women, Mazon, Jewish Emergency Management Plan (JEMP), Jewish Care and jewishaustralia.com.
In addition, during a Tu Bishvat telethon on Sunday, the Jewish National Fund offered members of the Jewish community the opportunity to donate trees to be planted in areas devastated by the bushfires.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304731036&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[revwardoc]

And what has the Muslim community done to help?