In Australia, thousands of tourists staying on the east coast receive urgent advice to leave before Saturday. New South Wales state authorities say that vacationers must leave the area between the coastal town of Batemans Bay and the border with the state of Victoria. The area extends over 240 kilometers.
“It will be worse on Saturday than what we had to endure earlier”, warns regional driver Andrew Constance. Next weekend a strong wind is expected and the temperature is likely to rise above 40 degrees. This further fuels the forest fires.
Long rows
Many people are already leaving the area. The army is helping with two ships and five helicopters. Part of the movement of people has to be done by air and by water, because roads are impassable in some places because of the fires.
People still try to stock up on food and drink at supermarkets and to refuel at gas stations, but in many places nothing can be achieved anymore. The army also supplies people with fuel and drinking water.
Missing
One of the ships in Victoria was sent to the coastal town of Mallacoota. Around 4000 people fled to the beach there on New Year’s Eve while a large proportion of the houses in it town burned down. Part was spared because the wind was turning. The ship can evacuate 1000 people.
In Victoria, the authorities are concerned about the fate of seventeen people. They stay in the East Gippsland region and it is not possible to contact them.
Hundreds of hot spots
Australia has been ravaged by forest fires for weeks. Due to the extreme drought there are already 200 hot spots in the hardest hit states of Victoria and New South Wales. Since Monday, seven people have died in the latter state, including one from the volunteer fire brigade. Another person is missing.
An estimated five million hectares of territory have gone up in flames. At least 17 people died and more than a thousand houses were destroyed.
The work that the Australian emergency services do is not without danger to their own lives. It can be seen on images that the fire brigade has spread on social media.
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