A dire situation grew even worse Tuesday morning in southeastern Australia, as aggressive bushfires trapped thousands on a beach, facing the possibility of jumping into the sea as a means to stay alive.
The Associated Press says as many as 4,000 people sought refuge from the flames along the beach in the Victoria town of Mallacoota, located in the East Gippsland region. Incident Controller Ben Rankin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that there was widespread fire damage to homes and businesses in the town of about 1,000, and several people were missing.
Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews told the AP there were plans to evacuate the people trapped on the beach.
Towns along a 125-mile stretch in East Gippsland were in danger and residents were told to find shelter in their communities after the main highway was closed.
"We’ve been watching all the smoke collecting around us, it's not good," Wendi Perkins, who owns the Bamboo Motor Inn at Lakes Entrance, told the Age. "I can’t believe the amount of people that weren’t aware they should have been leaving earlier.
"People are coming in from the fires, and they didn’t realize they couldn’t get out by the main road. Now they’re all locked in and they’re saying, 'Wow, we didn’t know this was going to happen.'"
In New South Wales, two people in a house were confirmed dead on Tuesday as a wildfire hit the southeast town of Cobargo, according to the AP. The occupants were believed to be father and son.
On Monday, a volunteer firefighter died and two others suffered burns as the bushfires continued to rage.
The firefighters were riding in a truck in New South Wales when extreme winds rolled it over, according to the ABC. The injured firefighters were hospitalized as was another firefighter who was hurt when a second truck rolled over.
Meanwhile, the NSW Rural Fire Service agreed that Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks could go on as planned, the Associated Press reported. Some officials had urged that the fireworks display be canceled because of the fires, while others said canceling the show would have little effect on communities affected by the bushfires.
The greater Sydney area is surrounded by fires and conditions in New South Wales are expected to be at their worst on New Year's Eve, the Guardian reported.
At least 12 people have died during one of the worst bushfire seasons in Australia's history. More than 17,760 square miles, an area more than twice the size of Massachusetts, have burned.
Australia is suffering under an extended heat wave, with temperatures soaring over 100 degrees. In addition, the fires are generating their own weather.
Andrew Crisp, Victoria's Emergency Management commissioner, said smoke columns from the fires are "punching into the atmosphere" over 8 miles high.
"There’s lightning coming out of these columns. It is unpredictable, it’s dangerous out there, and people need to stay tuned to their local conditions and stay across that good information so they can make good decisions," he said at a news conference.
Called pyrocumulonimbus, fire-generated thunderstorms were also sighted in New South Wales.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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