How was your day?
Bone achingly tired? Got the back to work blues? Ready for a sunny Easter break? I'm with you.
But take a moment to imagine what it's like living in Wooroloo, Edenbrook or anywhere in between right now. Both towns in the North of Perth are not only in the middle of a five-day Covid lockdown but are in immediate danger from a raging bushfire.
Already 30 homes have been lost and if you take a look at the map below, you'll understand why people are worried.
Red is 'too late to leave'. Yellow is watch and act.
It's worth knowing that the boundary for WA's lockdown finishes a little north and a little east of the Red patch. It extends south to the Great Australian Blight.
I pray all can get their way to safety from the fire, but once they're out what's next for them?
WA's government website hasn't yet been updated to explain how to be COVID safe during an emergency bushfire situation. (One for the retrospective.)
Instead it requires that people in Perth, Peel and the South West Region to stay at home, only leaving for exercise for an hour a day. I'm sure exercise is least of their concerns for the next few days.
In other news the creatures of Australia have once again shown us that COVID restrictions are no barrier to interstate travel for them. Of course us humans have given up on travelling interstate ever again, even if the borders are currently open (kinda, in some places, depending on the day or hour).
For Luna the cat, borders were not going to get in the way of her 700 kilometre pilgrimage from Tamworth to Canberra. The normally indoor cat clearly had had enough of its personal lockdown and decided to see the sights.
Meanwhile the cane toad is continuing its migration south with a small number found in the South Coast of NSW. Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall, has asked for people travelling to NSW from Queensland to watch out for the amphibian hitchhiker.
We're glad that he's optimistic about that particular border remaining open.
Today's Informer was written by ACM's head of audience, Gayle Tomlinson.
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