IN BETWEEN: WEEK 3. A NATURAL DISASTER.

This is my third week with my new family in Australia. Last week we had fun visiting the city and I also met some new friends at school. But this week an unimaginable disaster has happened! Suddenly a tsunami raged the city and many  people were killed. On Monday at 2 p.m., while I was doing my homework, my host family was watching the News and I heard they were broadcasting videos about a flood in the Australian coast near Melbourne. I ran downstairs and I asked Eliza and Adam for more information because I was really scared, but they told me it wasn’t so near us. They also told me that it is a quite common phenomenon on this coast, and it causes a lot of damages, but usually on a small area. I was a little reassured but I continued watching TV because there were a lot of frightening images  about the victims of the tsunami and I hoped I would not hear them call my friend’s names. In the evening the flood had definitely ceased but, as a consequence, a lot of people had lost their homes, so the local council gave them shelter in a large hall. On the next day my parents called me up: they wanted to get information about me and my host family because the news of the tsunami had reached England. I reassured them saying that we were completely safe. After that, I checked up my e-mails; there were many letters from my English friends asking me what had really happened. Obviously, on that day, the local authorities decided to  keep all schools near the coast closed. On the following days, it got better and better. The streets were cleaned of the debris and the beach  was also cleaned with the help of many volunteers. Some days later there were organised some activities to help those who had become homeless. Some school bands played concerts to raise money and which was donated to these unlucky citizens. Also clothes and other useful items were collected among the residents and given to them.I was really astonished by the generosity of the  people and the effectiveness of the authorities  Also, Melbourne town hall have decided that one particular day would be  devoted to remember and honour the memory of those who had lost their lives in the tsunami. It's been an extraordinary week, full of events. I will never forget it.

Carolina Rossi