IT might have seemed like a small blow to some people, but if you happened to be out and about when the storm hit yesterday – or you were faced with the damage afterwards – it was a scary experience.
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Winds of more than 100km an hour are no small consideration and even if it only lasts half an hour, it is hard to see that the world is ever going to look normal again.
It wasn’t a cyclone, or an earthquake or a tidal wave. But it does give you just the tiniest taste of how quickly a disaster can happen. And how quickly it can change your world.
It also gives Gunnedah an idea of what great emergency services we have in place.
Barely had the lighting struck when the fire trucks were out, on their way to help out someone who appeared to be losing a fair chunk of their roof.
The SES were right behind them, visiting the streets where people had reported problems with electricity and damage.
Let’s face it, in a storm like that one, the last place you want to be is out in it.
But these people had no hesitation in risking their own safety to make sure that we were OK.
It is humbling to see a person in their emergency gear struggling to secure someone else’s roof during a ferocious electrical storm.
If, for whatever reason, they were not there, what would happen? Trees might remain across roads, powerlines might go unheeded for some time, fires might even start.
It was not a long storm and it sure could have been worse, but it is comforting to know that those reliable people are there.
Thanks to all those emergency service people – and to the good neighbours – who really shine in times of trouble.
You just never know when you might be desperately in need of that helping hand.