Here on Tamborine Mountain I wake and notice the generator has stopped but the sound of chainsaws at 6.38 am on a Sunday still sounds on the breeze. It is New Year’s Eve no revelry is planned. It seems unwise, frivolous, when more introspection is required.
On Xmas night as we sat drinking champagne, full from too much food and joyfully belting out carols, a tornado hit the mountain and surrounding areas. For 30 minutes lightening flashed thunder roared, wind swirled in all direction forcing rain and hail in a horizontal frenetic dance.
When it stopped our roads were blocked and power was cut. Giant trees lay on the ground completely uprooted. Massive branches hung precariously over power lines. The tops of trees were snapped off and flung far from where they grew.
On daybreak driving to get petrol for our generator we were shocked by what we could now see. The whole mountain had had a bad haircut and the forest canopy we cherish was shorn and vulnerable. Along ridges houses and sheds lost roofs and structures laid mangled by the side of roads or up trees or on power lines. Branches came through verandas, carports and rooftops. Power poles were bent at odd angles, collapsed under the weight of fallen limbs or broken with snaking power lines strewn all over the place.
We have been very fortunate. No damage only the inconvenience of being without power for6 days. We have a generator and gear for camping which has made things relatively normal.
Not so very many. In community meetings people’s frustration turns to anger and bad behavior. The stress tips people over an edge they have held themselves back from. Tears flow, bewilderment and confusion.
Others spring into action, chainsaw champions clear debris, SES and rural fire brigade teams work around the clock. Neighbours check on neighbours. Power lines reach between houses sharing generator power, people open their homes for showers and hot meals made on camp stoves.
Day 6 and ENERGEX crews have set up a huge operations area at the sports ground to work on getting the network back. Crews only just retuned from cleanup of cyclone Jasper in Cairns have arrived to help. Huge generators have been placed strategically to get essential services back on line. Helicopters are used to peruse the area and check for damage. It is predicted that by January 5 the mountain will be back online.
We are reminded that though power from the grid is not being delivered, power from our solar panels and batteries may still be activating the fallen wires.
The council sets up daily briefings and has opened a community recovery centre where people can charge phones, get news, apply for emergency payments or get support physically or mentally.
The rural fire brigade centre, aged Care home and swimming pool open their doors for people to access showers.
The bushrats local football club will host a free bbq on New Year’s Day for people to come together, be fed and connect.
There is duality in all of this. The paradox of disaster and warm heartedness. Destruction and new growth. Loss and appreciation. Giving and receiving.
This is not the first disaster I have experienced and I’m sure it will not be the last. I know as more carbon saturates the atmosphere we will see more wild events across the world. We will need to be resilient, adaptable and innovative. We will need to think beyond our own backyard. We will need the support of family, neighbors, friends. We will need to think of the greater good, to be of service where we can and to think of ourselves as one part of a greater ecosystem where the more than human world that sustains us is reliant upon us to be good stewards and custodians.
So as 2023 ticks over to 2024 I will light a candle for the loss of habitat, the loss of patience, the loss of humanity that pitches countryman against countryman. I will light a candle for the peacemakers, the environmentalists, the caregivers, the rescue teams, the medicos, the charity workers- the menders and the healers.
On this day, the last day of this year, I will contemplate all the blessings I have had this year. The travels far and wide, precious time with family, hearty conversations, exchanges of ideas, shoulders to cry on and friends to laugh and sing with. On this day I am truly grateful for this art life. The privilege to be an artist, to have my own studio, the good fortune to have a partner who loves me, and to live on this rainforest mountain and it’s community which has sustained me for almost 33 years.
Looking ahead I hope I can give back and vision forwards with my feet on this precious ground in an attitude of gratitude.
Happy 2024!
