Australian bushfires: Lack of rainfall likely to prolong blaze; toll rises to 4 after fire wipes out 25 lakh acres of farmland
Official weather forecasts predict no substantial rains for at least three months, providing grim news as firefighters battle to get more than 100 bushfires raging across the east coast under control
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Official weather forecasts predict no substantial rains for at least three months, providing grim news as firefighters battle to get more than 100 bushfires raging across the east coast under control. AP
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The toll from the fires rose to four on Thursday after police reported the body of a man in New South Wales bushland. The wildfires in New South Wales and Queensland states have destroyed hundreds of homes and wiped out 25 lakh acres of farmland and bush over the past week. AP
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At least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed in New South Wales by wildfires that had burnt into the suburbs of Sydney, Australia’s largest city. A weeklong state of emergency was declared for New South Wales because of the extraordinary fire danger. AP
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According to Rural Fire Service NSW deputy commissioner Rob Rogers, the fatigued firefighters face another challenging few days. “Conditions are starting to warm up tomorrow, into the weekend and then heating up early next week, a return to more gusty conditions. We’re in for the long haul,” Rogers told Australia’s Channel 7. AP
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Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said there is just a 25 percent chance that the country’s east coast will receive average rainfall between 1 December and 28 February. Stoking the threat, BOM said there is more than 80 percent chance that temperatures will exceed average levels over the next three months. AP
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The fires have been fuelled by tinder-dry conditions after three years of drought that experts say has been exacerbated by climate change, a factor that has sparked a sharp political debate in recent days. Firefighters have said that the blazes are likely to burn for weeks without significant rainfall. AP
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Bushfires are common in Australia’s hot, dry summers, but the ferocity and early arrival of the fires in the southern spring this year has caught many by surprise and stoked an increasingly acrimonious debate on climate change. AP
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