Floods, droughts and bushfires have always been a part of the Australian landscape. Famous poets, Dorothea Mackellar and John O'Brien wrote of it in the early 1900s.
It's not a new phenomenon. Sadly, social media and the media can put such a twist on our view of situations and events, it would have us believe otherwise.
We rely so heavily on the technology of weather forecasting sites and even localised rainfall groups on social media that we don't stop to put these resources aside, even when we are disappointed by rainfall that hasn't reached us.
While many celebrate the arrival of some beautiful, long awaited rain, many sit back and hope that the storm they can see on the radar is coming their way.
Thanks to social media, we can see a rain report from a region 200 kilometres away within minutes of a shower.
In this regard, social media can be a very powerful tool in sharing the news and connecting people.
However, I know many others struggle with the fact that they are yet to receive any rain, while other parts of the country may be experiencing flash flooding or decent rainfall.
The thought of our city cousins thinking this drought is over is comical, considering properties just five kilometres apart are receiving differences in rainfall upwards of 30 millimetres in some places.
Some are getting enough to fill dams, while others only get to see and smell a shower in the distance. However, if they are 'keeping informed' via social media, you can see how they could easily assume this.
In saying this however, as events are broadcast on social media so thickly, they so quickly become a forgotten crisis.
For instance, what has happened to those people in parts of north west Queensland who lost substantial numbers of livestock and faced other devastating losses just a mere 12 months (or less) ago?
Then there's the ongoing drought that keeps biting and its effect on rural and regional towns and the properties and producers that work so hard to produce our food and fibre.
I worry that people all around the world are assuming the whole of Australia is on fire, as these devastating bushfires have been blown so far out of proportion by the media.
Will they come and go without much follow-up? While a mammoth amount of money has been raised for these disasters, is anyone worrying where it may actually be spent?
Or that with all of the attention focused on this disaster, we will lose sight of how serious the nature of the drought gripping Australia really is.
- Queensland Country Life 2019 Miss Showgirl Clare Webb
