Ummmn....fire

[SR5]

Originally Posted by AC1DD
Originally Posted by SR5
Yay !!! Santa brought me Rain for Christmas !!!!

It's only light rain, and only over part of the country. But it's still rain, and most of the country is a bit cooler today.

Merry Christmas !!


I prayed you'd get rain...maybe a lot of people were doing the same!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Thank you AC1DD

Merry Christmas to you and your family !!!

 

[bbhero]

Hope you are doing good SR5....

Hope you and your family have a good Christmas...

First year is the hardest after losing a loved one...

Take good care of yourself.

 

[SR5]

Hi BBHero,
Thank you for your kind words. It's always good to hear from you.

I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas

 

[SR5]

Unfortunately the very hot and very dry conditions have returned, especially to the north west and south east parts of the country. Many fires are still burning with the threat of dry lightning strikes starting more fires.

Quote
Rainfall over parts of eastern Australia during the Christmas break did little to extinguish some of the country's major bushfires, ahead of worsening conditions and a heatwave due to arrive in the coming days.

About 70 bushfires continue to burn throughout New South Wales, despite modest rainfall in some fire-affected parts of the state, while firefighters continued to battle a large blaze in South Australia on Boxing Day.


Quote
Rob Taggart, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, ... small amounts of rain fell on the edge of the massive 500,000-hectare Gospers Mountain fire in the Blue Mountains, and on the South Coast, where the Rural Fire Service continues to battle blazes near Nowra.

"Even 5mm through the Ulladulla area [on the South Coast] or 5mm through the Blue Mountains area is not going to put out those fires. It may temporarily suppress them a little bit, but then when the hot windy dry comes through, they just flare up again," Taggart said.


Quote
Residents in Victoria's far east have been urged to flee an out-of-control blaze that could impact several towns.
An emergency warning has been issued for Bonang, Cabanandra, Deddick Valley, Dellicknora, Tubbut and Amboyne, in the state's East Gippsland region, with people urged to leave immediately.

"Leaving now is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous," the emergency warning on Saturday night said.

 

[pschnahc]

Dry lightening, exclusively high winds, prolonged preparation via drought, seemingly accelerated burning phenomenon this seems to be the new formula, whether it's the Alberta oil patch or a Queensland rainforest. It's all looking too ideally coordinated to acheive such specific results. Too much for me to accept in stride, my skepticism that this is all happen-stance, carbon boosted, incidental, natural phenomenacoordinating themselves so perfectly for historic records is through the roof. Cow toots? termites? Not buying it.

 

[Shannow]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/b...6f9-adb7-ba2cf6d6a3b8?ocid=Social-9NewsS

https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/mallacoota-fires-thousands-evacuated-to-ocean/

People evacuated into the ocean as the fire bares down...never seen that before...

 

[OVERKILL]

Sweet Jesus, that's awful!

 

[02SE]

The fires are making the nightly News here in the States. Absolutely terrible.

Hoping for some improving conditions for our Aussie friends.

 

[JeffKeryk]

CA and OZ are joined at the hip on this one.
Mother Nature is powerful. I hate these fires.
Words fail.

 

[Shannow]

Both our lands were "managed" for 50,000 years by peoples who understood how the land worked.

We ring fence the land, call them "wilderness", and they HAVE to evolve into something new...that's what the fires are, the first stage of that...

 

[Silk]

New Zealand skies this morning.

 

[SR5]

New Year's Day in Australia

Quote
Four men have been confirmed dead in NSW with another man still unaccounted for as fire crews brace for another horror day battling Australia's bushfire crisis.

In NSW towns including Cobargo, Batemans Bay and others are surrounded by flames with homes and businesses lost.

And in Victoria, four people are still missing with military personnel expected to help firefighters in the state's east today.


Quote
The Victorian emergency commissioner Andrew Crisp was just asked about resources for fire fighters:

"I think what was demonstrated when these fires came through and when the change happened overnight on Monday, you will not stop these fires.

What we talk about, when you start to get ratings into the extreme area, fires are fast moving, uncontrollable, unpredictable.

You won't put them out. That's a fact.

That is why in the lead-up to Monday, that's why we were putting out that messaging.

We drew a line on a map.

We said that people were in danger and we wanted people to be out of that particular area.

So you are not going to put those fires out, not going to put the fires out now. It was nature which started the fires and it will be nature that stops these fires."

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted by Shannow
https://www.9news.com.au/national/b...6f9-adb7-ba2cf6d6a3b8?ocid=Social-9NewsS

https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/mallacoota-fires-thousands-evacuated-to-ocean/

People evacuated into the ocean as the fire bares down...never seen that before...


Quote
A dramatic update to the NSW bushfire death toll, with seven people now confirmed dead.

The NSW RFS delivered the tragic news during a 3pm press conference this afternoon.

It was also confirmed that 176 homes have been destroyed in NSW.

Fire officials told Australians they should be braced for the number of dead in NSW to rise this afternoon and into the evening.

Some areas have been hit very hard, with 89 homes lost in Conjola Park, 40 homes in Malua Bay and 15 in Rosedale.

The RFS fear conditions on Saturday will be "as bad or worse" than yesterday.

Winds are expected to be very strong, and parts of NSW will see 40-plus Celcius temperatures.



Quote
Mallacoota in Victoria's East Gippsland area has been shrouded in darkness this morning (Tuesday, Dec 31), as locals and holidaymakers alike brace for approaching bushfires to hit.

As per the ABC, reports of up to 4000 people in the beachside area have had to evacuate to the shoreline, on beaches and the local wharves, with directions to get into the water when the CFA fire engines' sirens are sounded.

At the time of writing (9.30am) the sirens have reportedly begun, indicating that people should now enter the water to protect themselves from the fires.

 

[SR5]

New Years update, state by state

Quote
QUEENSLAND

* 7 bushfires burning

* 250,000 hectares burned

* 45 homes confirmed destroyed

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

* More than 40 bushfires burning, two of significance

* 1.2 million hectares burned

* One home confirmed destroyed

TASMANIA

* More than 30 bushfires burning, seven of significance

* 8,000 hectares burned

* One home confirmed destroyed

NSW

* 15 lives lost, four in the past 24 hours

* Two people remain missing

* More than 100 bushfires burning

* 3.6 million hectares burned, greater than the size of Belgium

* 1,087 homes confirmed destroyed

VICTORIA

* One person dead, four more missing

* More than 40 bushfires of significance burning

* More than 500,000 hectares burned

* 68 structures confirmed destroyed but this number is expected to rise significantly

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

* Two lives lost

* About 20 bushfires burning, seven of significance

* More than 60,000 hectares burned

* More than 90 homes confirmed destroyed

 

[SR5]

From ABC news today
Quote
Fishermans Paradise on the New South Wales South Coast is standing, but powerlines have been flattened, telecommunications are down and the town has little to no water. Those keen to reach loved ones wait in limbo.

Athina Skagias was visiting friends with her children when the Currowan bushfire moved into the area with overwhelming speed and force.

"It was surrounding us … we heard this helicopter come and it had the alert, three alerts, which I've never heard before," she said.

"We put the kids and everyone in the water, and had the boat ready, so when the time came and the fire was getting close we had plans.

"Two men found us and pulled us across with jet skis to the other side, they saved us really.

"We were all surrounded by fire, we stayed in the water with wet towels on our faces for over an hour or two."

To the south, bushland was completely burnt out and the smoke was thick and hazardous.

Dozens of properties were destroyed when the ferocious blaze tore through nearby Conjola Park.

There is just one road in and out of town.

"I'm trying to contact home, I can't even contact my sister. She'll be worried as … I'm worried about family and friends," Athina Skagias said.

"We have no water now at all and no electricity."

 

[SR5]

Quote
Mallacoota in Victoria's East Gippsland area has been shrouded in darkness this morning (Tuesday, Dec 31), as locals and holidaymakers alike brace for approaching bushfires to hit.

As per the ABC, reports of up to 4000 people in the beachside area have had to evacuate to the shoreline, on beaches and the local wharves, with directions to get into the water when the CFA fire engines' sirens are sounded.

At the time of writing (9.30am) the sirens have reportedly begun, indicating that people should now enter the water to protect themselves from the fires.

This is Finn, an 11 year old boy, who drove the boat taking his family to safety as they fled the Mallacoota fires. The image was taken by his mother Allison, while his brother Caleb looked after the family dog on the boat.

 

[SR5]

Originally Posted by SR5
Sadly two NSW Rural firefighters died while on active duty today. Both fathers of young children.

Very sad news.

The son of fallen volunteer firefighter Geoffrey Keaton received a posthumous award on his behalf.

 

[SR5]

More temperature records being broken in Australia. Today the national capital Canberra recorded its hottest day on record at 43.6C (110.5 F), while Penrith in Western Sydney has it's hottest day on record with 48.9C (120 F), which was also the hottest place on Earth today.

 

[SR5]

Some good news, a cool change with some rains has hit most of Victoria, not enough rain to put the fires out, but it should help moderate the conditions.

I really hope these rains stay for days and spread out to cover much of SA, Vic and NSW. A week of moderate rain, not enough to cause floods or landslides, will change everything.

 

[Silk]

The skies clouded over here this afternoon, but it's a really weird light, cloudy but hazy too. Web cam shows it very noticeable in Auckland this afternoon. I was up there a couple of days ago, and they say sometimes you can smell it too...like someones got a fire going a couple of houses away, but it's a bit further than that.