Australian wildfires destroy homes, kill cattle as hundreds of people flee

[webfact]

Australian wildfires destroy homes, kill cattle as hundreds of people flee

 

A house thats has been destroyed by a bushfire can be seen near the town of Cobden, located south west of Melbourne in Australia, March 18, 2018. AAP/David Crosling/via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country.

 

No deaths or serious injuries were reported as of Monday morning, but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural areas of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW). At least 75 homes had been destroyed, authorities said.

 

"We can't be 100 percent sure that everybody is accounted for... but each one of those homes that have been affected by fire will need to be looked at and just confirm that," NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

 

"There are 22 fires and five of those are not contained. There's still a lot of fire around the landscape," he said, adding it would be at least several days before they were extinguished.

 

The fires, believed to have been sparked by lightning on Saturday, were fanned by dry, hot winds as temperatures reached 41 C (106 F) throughout Sunday.

 

Emergency officials said conditions should ease on Monday but "watch and act" warnings remained in place for five locations.

 

At least 70 homes and a school were destroyed in the small coastal town of Tathra in New South Wales, authorities said, where people fled to the beach to avoid the flames and flying embers carried the firefront forward quickly.

 

About 700 residents were evacuated to centres set up at the nearby town of Bega and several schools in affected areas were closed on Monday.

 

About 280 firefighters were battling the blazes while 22,000 homes were without power in the region after the high winds brought down trees, Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said late on Sunday.

 

In the north Australian city of Darwin, about 25,000 homes were also without power after a tropical cyclone felled trees. No deaths were reported.

 

Bushfires are a common and deadly threat in Australia's hot, dry summers, fuelled by highly flammable eucalyptus trees.

 

In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney, when they became trapped by bushfires.

 

The 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria killed 173 people and injured more than 400.

 

(Reporting by Jane Wardell and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Susan Fenton)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-19

[weegee]

2 hours ago, car720 said:

Is it just my imagination or does Australia seem to be bearing the brunt of global climate change.

No...It's a phenomenon thats going on since the year dot....Gum trees burn like you wouldnt believe...  

[toofarnorth]

41 minutes ago, weegee said:

No...It's a phenomenon thats going on since the year dot....Gum trees burn like you wouldnt believe... 

So does Spinifex.

[Cats4ever]

SE Australia along with Southern France and parts of Western USA (last one I am not sure of) are 3 of the most bushfire ( note choice of word ) prone areas worldwide. I live 120k north of some of these fires. Since New Year's Day we have had just under 15ml of rain. Country is tinder dry. On the weekend there were winds, some gusting to close to 100kmh; better today. Seems they are getting fires under control. Poor buggers in Tathra really copped it. It is in NSW.

Now I might go and have a leak, sorry, go to the bathroom.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, car720 said:

Is it just my imagination or does Australia seem to be bearing the brunt of global climate change.

No. Wildfires are part of nature. Been going on as long as there have been trees in Australia.

What is different is that population growth has people building houses where they should never be built, like in the middle of a forest of highly inflammable trees, and then complaining when an entirely foreseeable event occurs.

[GreasyFingers]

My uncle and aunt, both in their 80's, lost their home in Tathra in what seemed like a relatively safe area, 50 metres from the bush at the bottom of a hill. Terrible thing to happen at any age but more distressing at their age. Fortunately the homes of their son and daughter that lived nearby were okay.

[rosst]

On 19/03/2018 at 10:10 AM, weegee said:

No...It's a phenomenon thats going on since the year dot....Gum trees burn like you wouldnt believe...  

Yes, but I believe there are more intense winds, last time I was home I was surprised how frequent the strong winds were in Perth. 

[Blackheart1916]

On 3/20/2018 at 9:02 AM, GreasyFingers said:

My uncle and aunt, both in their 80's, lost their home in Tathra in what seemed like a relatively safe area, 50 metres from the bush at the bottom of a hill. Terrible thing to happen at any age but more distressing at their age. Fortunately the homes of their son and daughter that lived nearby were okay.

Unfortunately when embers are blowing a couple of hundred metres ahead of the fire front, 50 metres is not a guaranteed safety margin. The winds were pretty severe and gusty as shown by the rapid progress of the fire. Had a couple of mates in the thick of it in Tathra and Kalaru, we will be on the golf course on the weekend so I will get the full story. Hope your uncle and aunt recover well.