by Sarah Strutt

Created on: February 17, 2009

As an Australian writer I have had the unfortunate opportunity over the last 9 days of watching hundreds of my fellow conuntrymen do battle with mother nature. In record breaking heatwave temperatures and extreme conditions almost the entire southern state of Victoria burst into flames on Saturday 7th February 2009. Huge bushfires, as we call them, swept through vast areas of countryside as if the very hounds of hell had been unleashed. Over a thousand homes have been razed to the ground, hundreds of thousands of hectares of land left as a blackened moonscape, and hardest of all to bear has been the human toll - at the writing of this there are over 180 people confirmed dead and this number is still expected to rise as police sift through the wreckage of people's homes, properties and towns, what was their lives. Hundreds of families escaped with only the clothes they wore as they fought to the last seconds to save their homes, sometimes their own life and that of their frie! nds and loved ones. Too many lost the fight, in some cases whole families perishing together as they realised they could no longer win the battle and attempted at the last to flee to safety. A couple of teenage girls reamained at home in an attempt to save their horses and died as the fire storm raged indiscriminantly across the land. Their pretty young faces are among the many that we have seen in tributes to the deceased. Fire authorities are now concerned for the water supply to our second largest city of Melbourne as fire fronts now approach these areas.

It is hard to describe the national feeling that this event has evoked. Out of the tragedy has come amazing stories of heroism. Stories of people helping neighbours as they watch their own home burn to the ground beside them. People suffering terrible burn injuries as they braved smoke and flames to drag others out. There has been an amazing show of support as Australians far and wide have dug deep, even in these difficult economic times, to support their fellow Aussies with donations of millions upon millions of dollars. On top of monetary donations clothes and goods have poured in by the truckload from all over our vast country in a show of national unity. Ironically it is both these characteristics - unforgiving climate and amazing human spirit - that make this undeniably one of the greatest countries in the world.
This devastating national disaster has shown our nation that the battle against nature can truly be a savage one. In

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