MELBOURNE: Australia’s raging bushfire crisis, one of the worst in its history, has killed 24 people, burned over six million hectares of land, reduced to ashes hundreds of homes and pushed many species towards extinction, officials said.
Authorities on Thursday issued fresh warnings and evacuation orders in the country’s southeast as hot and windy conditions threatened to regenerate huge bushfires. Around 23 fires were still burning in Victoria, according the state’s emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp. Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews on Thursday announced extending state’s first-ever state of disaster ahead of “significant fire activity” forecast for the next two days.
“We have forecast conditions of extreme danger, very significant fire activity is likely off the back of a hot day today, a hot day tomorrow and a change not coming through in the east of the state until late afternoon tomorrow and in the northern part of the state not until the evening on Saturday,” he said.
“This means that we have every reason to believe there will be significant fire activity over the next 48 hours and that means it is appropriate that we continue the state of disaster,” Andrews said.
There will be messages going out to communities in the fire zone on Thursday and those messages will indicate to people that they are in the fire zone and that if they can leave, they should leave, the Premier of Victoria said, adding that “we will not be able to guarantee their safety”.
There was a possibility of another round of dry lightning and a wind change which could trigger fires across the state from Friday.
“This is a really significant challenge for us. We don’t underestimate it. We don’t lightly extend the state of disaster. We have done it because we believe that it will save lives and that, after all, is the most important thing,” Andrews said.
Victoria’s emergency management commissioner Crisp said that in the state, 244 homes were lost or damaged and another 400 “significant” structures impacted.
“We know those numbers will grow,” he said. Meanwhile in New South Wales, state premier Gladys Berejiklian announced an additional 1 billion Australian dollar over the next two years into bushfire management and recovery for rebuilding and rehabilitating the fire ravaged zones. This season saw the worst damages across the state with almost 2000 homes damaged so far and 20 deaths.
Berejiklian said the new funding would prioritise infrastructure repair and help stimulate fire-ravaged NSW communities. “The bushfire season is far from over but we know how important it is for communities to start the recovery process where possible,” Berejiklian said in a statement.
She said the funding was on top of 231 million dollar already committed to disaster assistance funding.