Day 91 in a Year of my Life

This was just posted by the local weather page on facebook:

BURNETT HEADS SEVERE WEATHER UPDATE:

QLD Police are now reporting a 5th tornado has struck in Burnett Heads causing damage in Hunter Street with 2 houses damaged. Police also report 2 people have been injured in the 6:05pm tornado.

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Not liking it very much at all.

The scary thing is that it can be windy and rainy one minute, then dry and still the next.  That's how the weather has been for the last 3 days, but even more erratic in the last 24 hours.

We've removed all the loose items from the yard, charged up all the batteries for our electronic devices ie iPhones, iPads, laptops and camera, got the torch handy, lot's of fresh water in bottles in the fridge, filled the car with fuel, first aide kit always prepared and now we wait and hope that the weather passes without incident.

We drove around town to check for any flooding or wind damage this morning.  Plenty of branches and leaves strewn over the roads and some minor flooding from over full drains and the tide was on it's way in, so we made our way to the Lion's Park to see how high it would get with all the swell from the X-cyclone.

It was almost an hour from full tide, so we decided to have a barbecue breakfast at the park.  We drove down to the local supermarket and bought some plastic plates and cutlery, some bacon and eggs and some fruit and sat under an empty shelter cooking on the public barbecue.

On a normal Australia Day, the whole park would have been full of people and it would be impossible to get a spot at the barbecue - but there was a handful of people checking out the high water level and none of them eating or drinking.

It was quite pleasant under the shelter.  While Adoring Husband was cooking, I wandered around with the camera and got some shots.

Tomorrow morning, apparently, the tide will be even higher and then Monday will be the highest tide for the month, so we may see some flooding and some erosion and damage to the shore line.

We've already emptied the rain gauge once because it was full.  I think it will be full again by tomorrow morning.

We still have power, so that's always good and that means I get to watch the Women's Tennis Final tonight, as well as a 20/20 cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka.

So it could be a long night tonight with the wild weather continuing - I must admit, the spate of tornados gives me an uneasy feeling because they are so unpredictable and appear from nowhere and are so destructive.

Mother Nature is angry.  No doubt about that.

Today, being Australia Day, I am grateful to be living in the best country in the world, despite the scary weather.  I'm in the lucky country!

Nite all.