Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Fires in Australia

Cripes what was it raining, pointy metal frogs (pestilence for those not religious - like me).
I cannot imagine being an insurance company if this is a regular thing?
Talk about piling pain on top of pain.

Peter there was a program on the BBC yesterday about the new waves of eco-development. I was amazed/shocked/depressed that the concrete industry produces more CO2 than the airline industry. Quite incredible. Very progressive India company.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8616406.stm (sorry for those outside the UK but apparently we keep the good stuff for ourselves (ahem)

Concrete production is a CO2 source that most overlook.
To be honest, most robust building materials produce CO2, concrete, bricks, steel, etc.

Timber is better and plasterboard (sheetrock in some countries) uses gypsum which is produced by de-sulfurising incinerator gasses, so is a CO2 soak.
But timber houses are more of a fire risk and need more maintenance.
No easy answers.

I just spent an hour or so putting nearly a whole roll of Gorilla tape over the holes in the roof so hopefully the car is water proof. I counted 50 dents on the boot, 25 on the panel that covers the roof and 90 on the bonnet, I am sure once I wash the car they will be easier to see and there will be more plus I know there are a lot down one side of the car. I tried to check the website for the paint less dent repair places that the insurance company booked the car into and I got a 509 too busy, I expect everyone is having a look to see where their car is booked into. I did look earlier and from memory it was $40 to $80 per dent, say 200 dents and that is somewhere between $8,000 to $16,000. I expect those dent repair places are only economical if there are only a few dents, maybe it would be cheaper to repair the car by conventional panel beating methods. Unfortunately I expect it could be a write off which is a shame as it is a really fun car to drive, my son and his friends enjoyed sitting in the back as toddlers (and older) so I am/was expecting my grandchild to love it as well when she is a little bit older.

Interesting that the bushfires will not really affect the economy, I expect the auto industry will be similar even though with Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne badly hit there are hundreds of thousands of damaged cars, I expect there was about 2000 cars just in that car park with my car and many cars had smashed windows and rear hatches filled with hail and rain. I doubt any car in that car park did not get damage.

Watching the stock market over the last month I remember a day when Bega Cheese dropped about 10% one day but other shares made up more so from memory the day was overall positive. I do wonder with the bushfires followed by this storm how the insurance companies will go, maybe drop as well but probably not a huge affect over the whole market.

The storm probably only lasted maybe 30 minutes of golf ball hail stones and heavy rain but caused a lot of damage. Ignoring the storm it was a nice day - I drove to work and back home with the roof off.

Sorry to read this Chris, sods law in action again and good luck with the insurance. Some BBC footage (contributed) Hailstorm Aussie style

Sorry to see the damage to your car Chris.

I had some hail damage to the Jaguar (aluminium body) a couple of years back. My insurance cover it at no cost to me and the repairs are totally invisible. Nothing as bad as yours though. Hopefully they will be able to put it right.

There is nothing new about severe hail storms in Sydney. If I recall correctly from some reading the first settlers in Sydney, shortly after arrival of the fleet, suffered a severe hail storm that injured several people and killed a sheep, and on May 14 1798 there was a severe hail storm with stones up to 6 inches in diameter. Poultry was killed and lambs knocked down (whatever that may mean). I have never been under a bad one, by sheer luck, but I have seen the aftermath of several. They tend to pass across the Sydney area in a relatively narrow band and when it happens not only do cars get damaged but windows, roof tiles, and anything else that is breakable.

Up here in the mountains spring hail storms are the norm, usually we have grape sized hail and every so often golf ball sized. 3 years ago we had a storm that produced tennis ball size hail and destroyed whole communities that are still being repaired/rebuilt. A large shopping mall was closed for over two years and only recently fully opened. My sons car was completely destroyed and I mean destroyed (written off) and his house shredded took 18 months to repair. The weather forecasters are pretty good at predicting the storms so taking cover is the rigor just like the old cold war days.

This just got worse.....

Three Dead in Fire fighting plane crash

Sad news indeed. Condolences to the family and friends of the three crew members.

We are very thankful for all the help we have received from overseas Fire Crews and it is sad to see this happen.
I spent my third night of training with the NSW Rural Fire Service on Tuesday in the company of some volunteer fire fighters from Norway who have come over to help.

Australia is grateful but devastated with the news of the crash.