Friday, February 4, 2011

A Storm of Our Own

While most of you are under 2 feet of snow or stuck on Lakeshore Drive, I have found myself in a giant lake called Australia.  I thought it was all happening in Queensland, hours north of here.  When I emerged from the gym this afternoon, I discovered otherwise.  Category 5 Cyclone Yassi was set to hit near Cairns on Wednesday.  Winds were expected to reach speeds above those during Hurricane Katrina!  I paid close attention as I am planning to head there on Monday for a week of scuba diving. 

Cairns survived with minimal damage as Yassi hit land just a bit south of there.  She had her way with us this afternoon though!  Some 1,440 miles south of Cairns, Yassi attacked the busiest street in Melbourne.  Chapel St. is a mile long and packed with bars, cafés, restaurants, and shops.  It flooded completely in 10 minutes.  It looked like Venice.  The water entered nearly every shop and restaurant I passed on my walk home.

I took my time getting back.  After seeing the number of shops that were leaking from the roof and flooding from the street, I was pretty certain I was going to find water in my own living room.  I did consider the possibility that a power line could fall and I’d get charred pretty quickly, so I tried not to dilly dally tooooo much.  But that proved hard with the camera in hand.  Anyway, I made it home safe and sound.  I took some great shots along the way.  Enjoy!


BTW, my place did flood…again.  And I am still going to Cairns on Monday. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Oh, and one more thing:  Guess which 2011 Australian Open winner was photographed gallivanting around South Yarra with me?  Yup, uh huh!  This guy.  He’s no-joke-avitch, guys.  And word on the street is…if he don’t like you, he’ll Choke-a-Bitch!* So watch out!!!

*Footnote:  Matthew Lewis Hamity 02/2011




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