Monday 27 December 2010

The News: Today in New Zealand

TV One News at 6 pm was rather strange this evening.  The first thirty minutes seemed to be devoted to weather problems around the world and earthquakes and tsunamis and the like.  

It seems that the US is having snow in places that have not seen snow for over 100 years, the UK having managed to open its airports after the worst snow and freezing temperatures for decades now can't send planes to many places because they are now in the same situation.  There are hurricanes, cyclones, floods, mudslides, and, would you believe it, the hottest temperatures for the time of year in many places including Perth, Western Australia, where friends from Glasgow are spending Christmas.  Here in Napier we have had a lovely day:


Unfortunately tonight there is a severe weather warning for most of NZ as a cold front moves through bringing gales and torrential rain to many places.  

When they weren't talking about the weather they were talking about the earthquake in Christchurch.  Over 5000 buildings have been damaged over the last two days.  3000 have already been inspected and another 2000 will be inspected tonight and tomorrow.  Many businesses in the Central Business District are  closed.

OK so we are a developed nation and, unlike, Haiti no one is camped in a tented city and no one has cholera.  So we have much for which to be thankful.

And at least there are no riots.

6 comments:

  1. I think it`s called `Global Warming` - we were warned! We all better get used to it! Love the pics of Stornoway - my eldest`s ex-girlfriend originates from there and although I haven`t visited myself (the ferry journey alone fills me with dread!), found the photos very interesting. Thank you for that.

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  2. We have been getting pretty much the same choice of news here. And it certainly does not feel like global warming... more like a new ice age, this end of the globe... ;)

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  3. Sounds a little (a lot) like Revelations, doesn't it?

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  4. Lisa: Yes the Book of Revelation certainly has dire warnings of weather and war - the Apocalypse. I suspect that through the ages the same comment has been made many times. After all 88million people killed in the two World Wars of the last century eclipses anything we are doing at the moment or managed before.

    My reading of Revelation goes back many many years but I seem to recall that no one could agree on its interpretation. I don't suppose things have changed. Whatever, it certainly describes the mess we humans seem to making of just about everything. The question has to be 'when is the second age?' Have we reached it? When will the wicked be banished? And which of us is the wicked? We all believe our own cause is the true one. Oh gosh. Where did all that come from?

    Monica: Yep where you are but here and in Oz for example it's hotter than usual. Extremes - that's the theme this year.

    Nana Go-Go: I think everyone has some sore of link, however, tenuous, to the Islands. Thanks for your comment.

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  5. Although I'd like to see a bit of rain I'm thinking the weather is better here than anywhere else on earth at the moment. So that's my Makes Me Happy Monday thought! (Umm, is it Monday? No, I think it might be Tuesday!)

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  6. GB: It's a fascinating subject, isn't it?
    When we were in Fresno, CA recently, there was a fleet of trucks near the place we were staying that had the whole side panels plastered with the fact that May 2011 would be the end of the world...guaranteed.
    I was tempted to talk to them, but it was pouring rain.

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