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Firefighters drag a hose to fight a fire near Bendalong, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2020. Navy ships wrecked hundreds of people off the beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before the hot, windy weather exacerbates Australia’s devastating fires. (AP Photo / Rick Rycroft) Firefighters fight a fire near Bendalong, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2020. Navy ships wrecked hundreds of beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before the hot, windy weather exacerbates devastating fires. of Australia. (AP Photo / Rick Rycroft) Firefighters fight fire near Bendalong, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2020. Navy ships looted hundreds of people from beaches and tens of thousands were urged to flee before the hot, windy weather exacerbates devastating fires. Australia. (Photo AP / Rick Rycroft) Wild smoke and wildfire rages after Lake Conjola, Australia, Thursday, January 2, 2020. Thousands of tourists fled Australia’s shattered eastern shores to Australia shattered Saturday before Thursday’s worsening. of conditions as the army began evacuating people stranded on the shore further south. (Robert Oerlemans via AP)
Wild fires raging across Australia have triggered one of the largest evacuations in the country’s history as what is already the worst season on record is likely to become even more devastating due to hot weather and strong winds. .
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More than 200 fires had been burned, and warnings of extreme danger coming on Saturday prompted massive evacuations. Traffic was blocked as people fled and firefighters escorted evacuated columns as fires threatened to close roads. Navy ships were called in to rob hundreds of people stranded on beaches.
Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews declared a disaster in much of the eastern part of the state, allowing the government to order evacuations in an area with as many as 140,000 permanent residents and tens of thousands of other holidaymakers.
“If you can leave, you have to leave,” Andrews said.
The early and devastating onset of summer fires in Australia has already burned about 5 million acres of land, leaving at least 19 people dead and destroying more than 1,400 homes. That’s more acres burned in Australia than every year in the US since Harry Truman was president.
In the state of South Australia, fire officials said weather conditions were a cause for concern because fires were still burning or burning.
“The ignition sources are already there,” said Country Fire Service Chief Mark Jones. “There are millions of sparks out there ready to go if you break the control lines.”
This week, at least 445 homes were destroyed on the south coast of New South Wales and dozens were burned in Victoria. Ten deaths have been confirmed in both states this week, and Victoria authorities also said 28 people are missing. Fires are also burning in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
The marine evacuated hundreds from Mallacoota, a coastal city in Victoria interrupted for days by fires that forced 4,000 residents and tourists to shelter on the beaches. Landing craft drove people straight to the HMAS Choules offshore.
Evacuators waiting to board the ship described smoke and beasts flying everywhere when fires were at their worst.
“Waitings are just awful waiting,” Dani Barmeister told Channel Nine.
Choules Commander Scott Houlihan said 963 people had been registered for evacuation by sea and more had been reported by security.
In New South Wales, it was a state of emergency and a total ceasefire. Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers urged people not to wait to leave, noting that four people in the state died in their cars as they made late attempts to flee.
“We know people have a little bit of fire fatigue. They’ve been dealing with this for months now,” Rogers said. “But we need people to stay focused. Tomorrow is not the day to throw your guard.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was keen to cancel a planned trip to India later this month due to the fires. In December, he cut a family holiday in Hawaii in the face of public outrage in his absence.
He made the remarks in Bairnsdale, Victoria, where he expected a warmer reception than he had in another fire-ravaged city the day before.
Morrison slashed Thursday’s visit to Cobargo in New South Wales when locals screamed, called it an “idiot” and criticized it for lacking equipment to deal with fires in the city.
In a radio interview, Morrison said he understood the anger of people affected by the fires.
“People are angry and people are raw and people are upset,” he said. “Whether they are angry at me or angry about the situation, all I know is that they are hurting and it is my duty to be there to try and offer some comfort and support.”
In an interview late Friday with Australian Broadcasting Corporation “A Current Issue”, Morrison was defensive about his handling of the crisis. He denied ignoring the warnings of fire chiefs that Australia was going through a disastrous fire season.
“I hear the fire chiefs are in their jobs right now,” he said. “They provided those same exact warnings and prepared our services to deal with the situation.”
He has repeatedly claimed that fires are a natural disaster, not the result of climate change that is exacerbated by Australia’s dependence on coal and other fossil fuels. Experts say climate change has exacerbated unprecedented fires around the world, including those in California.
The smoke from the fires has dimmed the air quality and turned the skies during the day into near night darkness in the hardest hit areas. Smoke has also been dumped across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, where the skies are cloudy and glaciers have turned a deep caramel brown. Changing the color may cause more thaw as the glaciers will reflect less sunlight.
University of Sydney ecologist Chris Dickman told the Sydney Morning Herald that nearly 500 million birds, reptiles and mammals are likely to have disappeared in New South Wales alone. Frogs, bats and insects are excluded from his assessment, making the number of animals far greater.
The country’s agricultural sector also suffered unrelated losses. Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie said that in addition to their dying animals, farmers were also struggling to feed the animals with their disrupted supply chain.
McMorran reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
Shonal Ganguly And Steve McMorran, Associated Press
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