Australian state orders 30,000 people to evacuate due to ‘catastrophic’ fire risk
Firefighters in Australia are battling a huge blaze that has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people amid some of the worst fire conditions the country has seen in recent years, CNN reports.
Hot, dry and windy conditions have created “extreme to catastrophic fire dangers” in parts of Victoria and South Australia, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
Severe thunderstorms are also forecast in the region, which bring the threat of dry lightning – strikes that occur during a storm where the rain evaporates before hitting the ground.
Around 30,000 people had been ordered to evacuate parts of Victoria before midday Wednesday, when authorities warned it would be too late to leave.
Temperatures are rapidly rising to the 40°C range (104°F), with wind gusts reaching 60 to 70 kilometers per hour (37 to 43 mph), according to an update from Jason Heffernan, chief officer at Victoria’s Country Fire Authority (CFA), the state’s volunteer fire service.
“Extreme fire dangers are coming to fruition, and in fact we’re currently seeing catastrophic conditions in Casterdon, Hamilton and Kanagulk in the Wimmera weather district,” he said.
“The frontal system making its way through the state has slowed. So, we will see these winds and these temperatures stay around for a bit longer than expected. And I don’t expect this change to come through metropolitan Melbourne now until between 9 and even 10 o’clock this evening.”
Firefighters have been battling a bushfire that started last Thursday in the rural town of Bayindeen, about 190 kilometers (118 miles) west of Melbourne, and is not yet under control, according to the state’s emergency department.
