2004
Hurricanes Ivan, Jeannie, Frances and Charley caused an estimated forty-five billion dollars worth of damage, and a hundred and sixty-seven lives were lost in the US. Record-low temperatures were nine degrees below normal in Canada and the US.
Canada, the US, and Europe experienced record-breaking cold and snow storms
Fifty-two tornadoes struck the Midwest states of the US, causing devastation in their path.
Wildfires in Alaska burnt more than five million acres, the worst season on record.
Floods and more than thirty earthquakes hit New Zealand, causing the evacuation of fifteen hundred people.
Typhoon Chaba caused flooding, with record winds. Typhoon Songda was the seventh to hit Japan that season. There were nineteen Pacific typhoons throughout the year.
On the US Atlantic coast, four hurricanes in six weeks caused more damage than Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Typhoon Tokage was the worst storm to hit Japan in twenty years; it produced record-breaking eighty-foot waves, eight stories high.
A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit Niigata, Japan, destroying six thousand buildings, killing forty people, and injuring three thousand one hundred others.
Flooding caused by tropical storm, Muifa, threatened the World Heritage site of Hoi An in Vietnam. A hundred and seventy thousand homes were flooded, and at least forty-five people were killed.
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake caused a powerful tsunami in the Indian Ocean that hit twelve countries. Hardest hit was Aceh Province in Indonesia, where the death toll was a hundred and thirty-one thousand. Other countries, including Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, had a total of around fifty thousand deaths.
This was the last time Cassa’s mates heard from him, via text message: ‘Jetskiing out for towin. Huge swell coming to Aceh’.
His latest surfing adventure which put him in the wrong place at the wrong time had started out at an unlikely place, the Perth Mint. Here, the Australian Government produced currency for sixty-eight countries that could not be counterfeited.
While Cassa worked to earn spending money for his next surfing trip throughout Asia, a plot to smuggle out the latest currency printed on plastic for the Vietnamese Communist Government was in play. An insider named Gary needed a mule to smuggle the currency into Vietnam. An alliance was formed where Cassa would make enough money to fund his next surf trip. He could not see any problem taking Vietnamese dong with him. The only difference with the money he carried was that the serial numbers were not recorded by Vietnam’s Government.
Cassa’s past travels through that country had revealed poverty not seen in Australia. Every second building needed repairs and a good paint job. Aid money from Australia to help the Vietnamese people had been constantly siphoned off by corrupt Government officials.
That’s what happened with the Goodwill Bridge, built on the outskirts of Ho Chi Min City, as Government officials called it; the locals still referred to it as Saigon. A one hundred and sixty million dollar aid package from the Australian Government for a four lane bridge had produced only a two lane bridge that you could not drive a truck across. It was a white elephant after the comrades siphoned off cash at every level of the building process.
Gary and his co-conspirators had a surf board already hollowed out, ready to stash five hundred million dong in denominations of two hundred thousand. This was only fifty thousand dollars Australian, but in Vietnam it was enough to buy a house and retire comfortably.
The plan was in place. Gary didn’t explain how he would get the cash out or why it would not be missed from the Perth Mint. Like insider trading, while he could get away with it, he could make a fortune. Gary and a couple of other guys escorted Cassa to the Perth airport. He would be accompanied on the trip by Yong, an Australian citizen who was one of the first boat people to arrive in Australian back in the mid seventies. Yong spoke fluent English as well as Vietnamese and could watch over Cassa if he was stopped by security in Vietnam.
As Cassa walked from the plane at Saigon airport, Yong followed discreetly behind him. Cassa passed armed guards on his way to the arrivals counter. Before he could put his hand luggage on the table for inspection, he was pulled aside by a woman wearing a white surgical face mask. He was escorted to a petitioned off area of the airport terminal.
Cassa didn't understand what was happening. The stress of his mission had risen his blood pressure and heart beat to a point where he his albino white skin had turned red. That had set off a heat thermal scanner designed to pick up on anyone who might have a fever and possible swine flu infection. Yong walked over to an official and said in Vietnamese "That guy over there is an albino; he's just flushed from rushing up the ramp to make his next flight.” With that, Yong slipped five, two hundred thousand dong notes into the official’s hand. The official signalled and said "Let the white man continue." The redness disappeared from Cassa's face and several Vietnamese women in white masks touched his white skin for luck.
Cassa walked slowly back to the arrivals counter, taking deep breaths to remain as calm as possible. He handed over his carry-on bag to be searched and then was allowed to proceed to collect his surf board and luggage.
He walked out of the airport terminal into a stifling sticky heat wave. Cassa caught a bus into the city and was dropped off at the Grand Palace hotel. It was an old building, refurbished in the style of its glory days during the 1920s French colonial rule.
The plan was to stay at the hotel for three days and wait to be contacted about the money. At 9 o’clock that night as he watched TV, Cassa was startled by a knock on the door. By the time he opened the door there was no one there, just an envelope on the floor. He bent down, picked it up, closed the door and sat down to read "Take one hundred and fifty million dong to the casino on level two. Go to the cashier, change it to US dollars, and then gamble a small amount on the tables. Don't lose too much. Then return to your room with only US dollars. Do this for two more nights until all the dong is in US notes. I will contact you in three days time. Don't fail or you will never see Australia again. Destroy this note.”
Three days passed and another loud knock was heard at the door. This time there was no note, just Yong standing there, ready to collect. There was a quick exchange of nearly fifty thousand US dollars. Three thousand dollars were handed back for Cassa's trouble. Yong left the hotel with his freshly laundered cash. Cassa waited for a little while longer and then booked out of the hotel at 10am. He walked over to the internet service in the hotel foyer and booked a flight to Bali.
Cassa dumped his hollowed out surfboard in a waste bin next to the hotel. He would replace it with something more suitable for surfing reef breaks in Bali.
His flight didn't leave until 11.30pm, so he caught a cab across town to visit a war museum.
As he walked through the gates, Cassa saw American jet fighters and helicopters captured during the war. Over to his left he saw a red star painted on a tank. It was the infamous tank that had smashed through the gates of the American embassy in the last days of 1975, during the fall of Saigon.
Cassa walked up a few steps and entered the war memorial. It was a shrine to those who had suffered so much during that conflict. He didn't stay long: some of the images made him physically sick.
Next he headed out of town to the Mekong River, where he boarded a small junk. The river was huge and fast flowing, reminding him of Enogerra Creek when it was in full flood.
After two kilometres, the guide took a sharp turn and headed the junk up a small inlet. The jungle canopy closed in as the inlet became smaller. Suddenly rain started pelting down. The thunder storm only lasted a minute but sounded like a war zone. Cassa was a bit on edge after seeing the images at the War Memorial and was having a little trouble on focusing on exactly where he was. He couldn’t help thinking the Vietcong were about to come out of the jungle firing bullets.
By now the boat had pulled up against a muddy embankment. A board was pushed out as a plank to walk on. Cassa quickly disembarked and followed the path through the jungle canopy, where it opened up to reveal a small building.
This was where he wanted to be. He planned to purchase jade Buddha carvings that could be sold in Australia for five times the amount he was about to pay. He would get an even better deal when the seller saw he was paying with US dollars. Cassa only purchased three Buddhas, not enough to attract attention when going through customs.
The boat that had brought him to this secret location had left, and he would have to travel by foot from here over muddy mosquito infested swamp land. Halfway across he met a local with a donkey and cart who took him the rest of the way back to the Mekong River.
On reaching the river, he gave his new friend one hundred thousand dong. With a loud yell, the Vietnamese man called over another local to help Cassa get to the other side of the river.
Cassa climbed into a two man dug-out, like a small canoe, and was handed an oar. He started paddling with the current and reached the other side without any trouble, then began the one kilometre walk to the bus stop.
As he walked, Cassa spotted some old temple remains just off the main road and decided to investigate. Some structures were held up with reinforcing to stop them collapsing, others you could walk through. He saw a plaque which stated "These ruins are a sixth century temple site." The area had been bombed by the Americans during the war and some buildings were damaged or destroyed and bomb craters littered the area. Another warning, "Do not to walk off the track, unexploded bombs may be present."
Cassa made it back to the main road just in time to catch the last bus to Saigon.
He collected his luggage from the cloak room at the Grand Palace and boarded the commuter bus headed for the airport. It was six o'clock. By the time he arrived and checked in he had only three hours to wait for his flight to Bali.
After arriving in Bali and going through customs without any problems, Cassa headed for the Bounty Hotel at Kuta Beach, a popular hotel for Australian tourists. That afternoon, he bought a new surf board from one of the many surf shops and headed down to the wharf area. Here he organised an offshore boat trip to surf the outer reefs.
Cassa spent several days at sea with other surfers from all over the world who had come to these surf breaks only the locals knew about.
They also visited two small islands, one noted for its variety and strength of marijuana and the other for its women. Depending on your passion for drugs or women, you could choose number one or number two island. Cassa's choice was number three, staying on the boat so he would have a clear head and strength for a few days of surfing.
He had to be mindful of his delicate complexion as over-exposure to sunlight would burn and blister his skin. Cassa wore a full length wet suit even in summer, and used heaps of sunscreen to protect him from turning as red as a beetroot.
After enjoying the surf off the outer reefs of Bali he headed for the island of Java, landing at the airport in Jakarta, capital of the Indonesian archipelago.
Cassa travelled by bus across the south coast of Java, encountering police checkpoints where he would have to show his visa and passport. They passed through the first couple of check points smoothly. At the last checkpoint, everyone on the bus was ordered off at gun point. Cassa was singled out because of his long blonde hair. The officer checked his passport and visa then said in broken English "Your visa dated incorrectly. Follow me and bring your bag."
Cassa followed his instruction. Inside the police station, his bag was searched and nothing illegal was found. The officer spoke again "Your visa incomplete, you stay night here."
Cassa argued loudly with the guy but it just made him agitated. He drew his pistol, stuck it against Cassa's temple and started to squeeze the trigger. "US dollars, US dollars!" Cassa yelled desperately. The officer released the trigger and lowered his weapon.
Cassa reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. He grabbed a handful of notes and handed them over. The officer counted two hundred and twenty US dollars. "You go, you go" he said, pointing out the door.
Cassa picked up his bag and got back on the bus. Finally the bus reached his destination - a Dutch colonial mansion with six white pillars holding up the roof and full length verandah. Looking out through the palm trees to the ocean, you could see your own private reef break just a couple of hundred metres offshore.
For the next few weeks Cassa surfed his heart out. Each time he watched the sun setting into the ocean he became mellower. The stress of the trip to Vietnam became a distant memory.
His next adventure was to Aceh, a province at the tip of Sumatra, a place of danger and high adventure. The Indonesian military had been fighting an insurgency group there that wanted independence from Indonesia. Cassa would have to be extra careful. He weighed up his options and considered the risk worth it for a beach break that had been described as bigger and better as a good pipeline in Hawaii.
Well, he got his wish, but the incoming swell he spotted on the horizon was more than he expected. An earthquake off the Sumatran coast created a tsunami.
2005
Nineteen feet of snow fell in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area of the US, the heaviest snowfall since 1916.
Hurricanes struck the US yet again. The worst was Katrina, with an estimated damage of a hundred billion dollars, the most expensive natural disaster in US history. Eighteen hundred lives were lost.
A magnitude 6.4-earthquake in Zarona, central Iran, shook more than forty villages, and at least six hundred and twelve people were killed.
Extreme winter weather killed fourteen hundred people in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.
In Japan, a magnitude-7.0 earthquake destroyed homes and injured five hundred.
An earthquake of 8.7-magnitude killed one thousand three hundred and thirteen people in the Islands of Nilas, off the west coast of Sumatra. Buildings were destroyed, and many officials feared that another Boxing Day type tsunami would occur.
Widespread flooding in Southern China killed five hundred and thirty-six people.
Flash flooding swept through a school in Ningan, China, killing a hundred and seventeen. A hundred and five of the dead were children.
In Mumbai, India, thirty-seven inches of rain fell in twenty-four hours, the most ever recorded in India. Monsoons rains left a thousand dead in Western India.
Famine caused by drought and locusts left more than three point six million people in Niger facing starvation
Wildfires burnt thirty-seven thousand acres in south-eastern Washington, and destroyed a hundred houses north-west of Los Angeles. Wildfires continued to scorch more than twenty-four thousand acres, destroying thirteen buildings and burning forty vehicles.
Torrential rain from a hurricane brought devastation to Central America, causing floods and mudslides that killed more than two thousand and buried the whole village of Pan a Baj.
In the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir region, a 7.6 earthquake killed eighty thousand people, and injured more than sixty-five thousand. Half the town of Muzaffarabad was destroyed, and four million people were left homeless with winter on the way.
Hurricane Beta, the twenty-third named storm in the Atlantic that year, broke the record set in 1851.
2006
Wildfires burnt throughout the whole year in the US. The estimated damage was over a billion dollars, with twenty-eight deaths, including twenty fire fighters. Texas alone had two hundred wildfires burning in a twenty-four-hour period. Overall, in Texas, four hundred homes were destroyed, and three point seven million acres burnt.
Widespread drought in the US caused over six billion dollars in damage.
In Indonesia, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed more than five thousand seven hundred people, and destroyed a hundred and thirty-five homes. The region had been under intense volcanic watch, with an expected eruption of Volcano Merapi.
A European heat wave caused the warmest month since records were kept.
New rainfall records were set in the north-eastern US, exceeding ten to fourteen inches.
China experienced the worst flooding in thirty years, with three hundred and forty storm-related deaths.
On the south coast of Java, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed seven hundred and thirty people, and displaced thousands from their homes.
The US experienced the warmest summer on record. Heat waves caused more than a hundred and fifty deaths.
Storms with strong winds left six hundred thousand homes in Missouri without power for one week.
In New York, a hundred thousand people were left without power for up to nine days.
Police arrested twenty-four British-born Muslims with ties to Pakistan. They were discovered plotting to blow up ten planes, using similar tactics to those used by Al-Qaeda on the twin towers in New York.
Flooding in Pakistan, India and Ethiopia killed over a thousand people.
Typhoon Durian, with winds up to a hundred and sixty-two miles per hour, caused mudslides from Mt. Mayon in the Philippines, burying over five hundred people in volcanic ash, boulders, and water.
Throughout late 2006 and into early 2007, Australian bushfires burned out of control in the Victorian Alps and Gippsland area. The fires raged for sixty-nine days. One million hectares burned, making those fires the worst in living memory.