We have them here in South Texas, and yes, their sting is something else!....excruciating pain at first, an intense burning sensation and then a numbness sets in, as in, muscles and nervous system are getting shut down. Even the tiny ones hurt like he'll!
Very sad.Friday 21st of March 9.32a.m. Light rain .. looks to be staying. 3.7 / 5.5kph W, Hg 62%, 22.6C / 72.7F top of 25C / 77F. Showers. Chance of a thunderstorm.
Moon is 60%
Darwin rough sleepers say current wet season one of the worst they have experienced
2 hours 56 mins ago
Noel Nabegeyo moved from his remote community of Oenpelli in Western Arnhem Land for the big city lights, searching for a fresh start.
That was 25 years ago, and he has been homeless in Darwin since.
He's a proud Kunwinjku man, skilled art painter and former cultural tour guide in Oenpelli — also called Gunbalanya — who left home due to complex community and family issues.
"I had lots of problems over there, lots of problems … I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't … [because] they kept going," he said.
Mr Nabegeyo is one of the thousands of people who are homeless in the Northern Territory.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data from 2021 showed 564 people per 10,000 of the NT population had no place to call home, with Indigenous people the most affected.
Mr Nabegeyo said living through this wet season as a rough sleeper in the Top End had been unbearable.
"When it starts to rain and the thunder is going on, we … get scared," he said.
"[And] it's bad when it's wet, we might get sick and sometimes we [might] slip when there's a lot of rain."
This year's monsoon in the Top End was the latest on record, with humidity regularly reaching 85 per cent.
Mr Nabegeyo also said the city's roaming private security guards make finding safe haven hard.
"These TPS [Territory Protective Services] people coming to tell us [to leave], that's bad for us," he said.
"There's no local shelter where we can go and hide ourselves and [prevent] from getting wet [and protect our things and] … sleep safely."
Community leaders want change
As the hot and humid conditions persist in the Top End, service providers want the NT government to introduce measures that treat rough sleepers more humanely.
Annie Taylor, chief executive of homelessness peak body NT Shelter, said the territory needed to improve its response to the crisis.
She said a recent federal funding boost for the sector should be invested into establishing more "need spaces" — facilities where rough sleepers can go to have meals, take showers and shelter from harsh conditions such as scorching sun or torrential rainfall.
"We know people are very susceptible to heat strokes, particularly if they are sleeping rough, and we need to make sure there's adequate response for those people," she said.
She said the government needed to learn from other states and replicate successful responses across the NT, such as investing in mobile cooling stations like those in Sydney and Melbourne where rough sleepers can cool down and get access to healthcare from professionals.
Pathway for long-term solutions
Last year, the Northern Territory and federal governments signed the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness, granting the NT $278 million over a five-year period to invest in social housing projects and homelessness services. (but $600milliom was given to the Ukraine, just saying).
The money represented a seven-fold increase in funding for the NT sector.
The agreement allocated $25 million for crisis and transitional accommodation for women, children and youth escaping family violence.
Ms Taylor is urging the government to start investing in longer term solutions to address homelessness in the NT.
"There's a lot that can be done. What it comes down to at the end of the day is access to long-term, appropriate, affordable and accessible housing," she said.
NT Salvation Army Doorways regional manager Jaime-Leigh Barnard runs Studio Off the Streets, a program that uses art to build relationships between Indigenous people and the wider community.
She said the Salvation Army was seeing an increase in demand for their services every year, especially from women escaping domestic violence.
But she said the lack of sufficient accommodation was forcing them to offer people "tents, jackets and tops" to provide some respite from the elements.
"I think it's important for Australians nationally to recognise that we are all a paycheck away from … sleeping rough," Ms Barnard said.
"Be kind to those that are sleeping rough. You could be next and you would want to be treated with the same dignity, that same respect."
ABC
I'm pretty sure our fly-in / fly-outs have temp setups similiar to what you're describing. I have no idea why they don't roll them out. Your guess is as good as mine
