Tuesday, January 21, 2020

AUSTRALIA WILDFIRES UPDATE

Weather 'merry-go-round' poses new risks for fire-ravaged Australia Issued on: 

Sydney (AFP)
A "merry-go-round" of extreme weather was hampering efforts by firefighters in Australia to tackle unprecedented bushfires that have killed at least 29 people and devastated vast swathes of the country.
Parts of the country welcomed heavy rainfall overnight, but authorities warned Tuesday that storms were bringing added complications, and the fire-danger risk could be elevated in the coming days.
"It has been a merry-go-round of weather over the last few days," the Bureau of Meteorology's Kevin Parkin said.
"We have gone from fires and storms and floods, and giant hail -- the size of limes... producing widespread damage -- to fire danger escalating on our doorstep," the senior meteorologist added.
The country has suffered a collision of extreme climate events in the past week, with storms, lightning, thunder and hail battering areas in the fire-hit east.
The bushfire season has been made worse by climate change, experts say.
Victoria state experienced bursts of intense rain over the past 48 hours that helped to contain long-running blazes in some areas, but landslides, fallen trees and lightning strikes have hampered recovery efforts.
The temperature in Victoria is set to climb into the mid-30 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) range on Wednesday amid fierce winds, prompting extreme weather warnings in the western parts of the state, where authorities say "new start" fires will be difficult to contain.
"New starts in unprepared communities are the biggest risk," Victoria Country Fire Authority chief officer Steve Warrington told media.
"If communities are not prepared for fire -- whether they live or die, whether their property is saved or not saved -- is very much dependent on decisions people make right now."
A change is expected to bring more rain to the state late Wednesday.
Further north in New South Wales state, heavy rains have also been welcomed in some areas but in others it has left fire-ravaged areas too damp to undertake preventative controlled burns.
Authorities there are bracing for elevated fire danger on Thursday, when temperatures in parts of the state will tip above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).



Storms, flash floods douse parts of bushfire-stricken Australia

Issued on: 18/01/2020 

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Parts of Australia's east coast were hit by severe storms on Saturday, dousing some of the bushfires that have devastated the region for months but causing road closures and flash flooding.

Fears of smoke from the fires disrupting the Australian Open tennis receded in Melbourne, where the main tournament was due to start on Monday.

Despite the heavy rain, authorities were still battling nearly 100 blazes - part of the bushfires that have killed 29 people since September, destroyed more than 2,500 homes and scorched an area nearly one-third the size of Germany.

Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, three of the states most hit by drought and bushfires, are now dealing with rain bucketing down in several areas.

Major highways were closed in Queensland on Saturday, with the state getting some of the heaviest rain Australia has seen for months, while power was cut in parts of New South Wales after a stormy night.

"Heavy, intense rainfall has eased, but showers and thunderstorms still possible through the weekend," the Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland said on Twitter on Saturday.

"Take care on the roads - if it's flooded, forget it."

Parts of Queensland's south saw triple the monthly rainfall overnight. No major damage has been reported, although some residential areas were flooded and many of the state's parks and tourist attractions were closed.

New South Wales fire services welcomed the rain, which they said on Twitter would help to control the 75 fires burning in the state, of which 25 are yet to be contained. But, they also said that some firegrounds have not seen any rain yet.

More benign storms were forecast for Victoria over the weekend, which has been hit this week already by severe storms and unhealthy smoke from the bushfires.

Skies were clear in Melbourne, however, for the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam, and Victoria's Environmental Protection rated the air quality as "good", after an earlier forecast of unhealthy air for the weekend.

There were still more than a dozen fires burning in Victoria on Saturday, with firefighters battling to contain a big blaze in the state's mountain region, fifteen times the size of Manhattan.

Victoria's emergency service also issued an evacuation warning due to a bushfire on Saturday for French Island, the state's largest coastal island with a small population of just above 100 people.

(REUTERS) 

Bushland is seen burnt by fire as rain pools in large puddles at Bilpin, in the Blue Mountains, Australia,
 January 17, 2020. © AAP Image, Dan Himbrechts, Reuters

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