Emerald

Accused teen looters flown out of Emerald : "A 72-year-old British tourist has been charged with obstructing police at Emerald this morning after he refused to turn back from a roadblock ahead of flooding."

The tourist probably has no idea. You can usually drive through floods in England and they are just floods. You have to live here to comprehend the magnanimity of a flood and the reality of it. The people had to prepare for this flood in Emerald and that in no way will have softened the heartache and horror or being deluged and totally and utterly finding your environment turned into a lake or a torrent.and under water. Evacuation means they are safe. It means their children are safe and it means we can keep an eye on them and we are saying little but we are watching and listening. If they need our help they just have to ask. It is a time to teach honesty and responsibility and the people will know that but two teenagers obviously viewed it in an opportunistic way and you have to wonder where their heads are at and how they got those values. Towns and cities in Australia regularly confront devastation. It's what makes us Australian and why we test to see whether you are in the tribe. We need to know we can count on you. Floods, dust storms, cyclones, bush fires...searing heat. We need to know we can count on each other. Even the people in Belair were looking out for each other and watching the roads. We do what we are asked because the people who manage our security and safety in these times are very, very good at it and if they make a mistake it's rare and it's life. Our emergency services teams are very together. So yes, the teenagers need to be flown out because they do not belong there. They need to be isolated and they need to be read their horoscope. Who was actually looking after them at the time because shoulder shrugging isn't going to cut it. Nor is saying kids. When we have an emergency then EVERYONE puts in their skills and talents no matter who they are so the safety and welfare of the tribe is managed. The community will be angry with them and they will be feeling it in a very raw way because the kids have broken the law, yes, but,more importantly, that bond of trust we rely on implicitly . They won't be safe but people will need to be able to tell them what they think and they will need to understand why you cannot do that in an emergency in Australia. They do not have any excuses. They are 14 and 16. What on earth were they thinking?