Bushfires Destroy Homes across SE Australia

EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATIC EVENTS
RAGING BUSHFIRES
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Bushfires spark emergency warnings across Victoria and South Australia

Scores of bushfires have consumed large swathes of Victoria and South Australia, destroying homes and farms amid the worst fire conditions since Black Saturday.

On and around February 7, 2009 (Black Saturday) bushfires killed at least 173 people, left more than 400 others injured, and destroyed about 2,000 homes.

“There has been no official confirmation of the number of properties lost but ABC reporters saw homes razed in the Gisborne, Craigieburn and Warrandyte areas,” reported ABC Australia.

Bushfires near Craigieburn, north of Melbourne, Victoria, February 9, 2014. Credit: Darren Arthur/ Audience submitted via ABC Aus.

Many residents have been ordered to leave their homes as flames spread to the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city.

• At least 70 bushfire are burning across the state of Victoria.
• More than 140 Emergency Warnings have been issued.

Authorities have closed roads across the devastated areas and told residents who evacuated their homes not to return, said the report.

Smoke rises from the Bangor bushfire in South Australia, February 9, 2014. Image Credit: Kendall Jackson/Audience submitted via ABC Aus.

South Australia

Meanwhile, the Bangor fire, which has consumed more than 30,000 hectares in South Australia, is slowly creeping  towards the towns of Beetaloo, Beetaloo Valey, Laura, Stone-Hutt, Wirrabara and Wirrabarra Forest, having breached its containment lines on Saturday, the report said.

Emergency Warnings: http://www.emergency.vic.gov.au

Developing story …

Related Links

• Southern Australia Burning in Another Day of Extreme Temperatures January 17, 2014
• Adelaide World’s Hottest City at 43.3°C January 16, 2014
• Uncontrolled Bushfires Rage in Victoria and South Australia January 15, 2014
• Australia: Temperatures Continue to Soar January 14, 2014
• Extreme Heat Wave Setting Australia on Fire January 13, 2014
• Record Heat Scorching Australia January 3, 2014

• Major Heatwave Enters 5th Day in Australia December 16, 2013
• Australia’s Bushfire Losses Top 1,000 October 25, 2013
• Costs of Back-to-back Disasters in Australia Continue to Mount October 22, 2013
• Australia Declares Emergency as NSW Bushfires Destroy “Hundreds of Homes” October 17, 2013

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast [Index of related links since 2007]

See also:

• Stick the Policies, Stop the Climate Change! February 12, 2009

Hottest Hell on Earth

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,159 Days Left 

[January 8, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,159 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

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Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Australia: Entombed by a ‘dome of heat’

Hundreds of fires fanned by record temperatures and high winds are currently burning across Australia, many of them out of control.

About 90 percent of New South Wales (NSW) was in severe danger, with “catastrophic” conditions declared in five areas: the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, the Southern Ranges, the northern and eastern Riverina and southern parts of the lower Central West Plains.

• Temperatures soared to near 46ºC (118ºF) today.
• Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast temperatures of up to 54ºC (129ºF)  in central Australia next Monday and has accordingly extended its temperature chart by adding two new colors, pink and purple, to allow for the extremes.
• High winds and atmospheric conditions have created a ‘dome of heat’ entombing Australia, experts said.

Australia Forecast Map for 06:00 UTC on Saturday 12 January 2013 . Source: BOM

Global Temperature Forecast Map for 06:00 UTC on Saturday 12 January 2013 . Source: BOM

SH Temp Forecast for 06:00 UTC on Sunday 13 January 2013

Power Outages

“The blistering heat also caused a blaze at a nuclear research facility in southern Sydney after cabling overheated in a nearby electricity substation, while thousands of homes in the city’s north experienced power outages due to soaring demand,” said a report.

FEWW Links and Forecasts

• Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,160 Days Left 

[January 7, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,160 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Wildfires force thousands from homes as Australian heatwave persists

Temperatures are forecast to exceed 45ºC in some areas of Australia, with hundreds of wildfires already burning in five of Australia’s six states.

• As Australia braced for “catastrophic” wildfire day,  authorities warned a massive runaway bushfire near southwest Victorian settlement of Drik Drik had the potential to double in size to 8,000 hectares, a report said.

• At least 100 fires are burning in New South Wales (NWS), Australia’s most populous state.
  • The heatwave will spread across much of NSW on Tuesday, with strong westerly winds creating “catastrophic” bushfire conditions, fire officials have warned.
  • NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner warned that fire danger ratings across “a significant part” of the state would be raised to either severe or extreme.
  • “It could be some of the worst fire weather conditions we’ve seen for years, both in terms of fire ratings and the geographic spread of the conditions,” he said.”Couple that with the fact the last two years have been dominated by rainfall and moisture, which means we’ve got fuel loads across NSW the likes of which we haven’t seen for 30 or 40 years.”
  • “Any fire that burns under the predicted conditions — 40 degree (Celsius) temperatures (104 Fahrenheit), below 10 percent humidity, winds gusting over 70 kilometers an hour (43mph) — those conditions are by any measure horrendous,” said NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner.

Related News Links

• Australia braces for “catastrophic” wildfire day
• Vic bushfire spreads to farming community

FEWW Links and Forecasts

• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

China: “Watergate” crisis

• “20 million residents in Beijing are waiting for a response from the government after the national capital was embarrassed by a media report that said inappropriate sewage discharge and garbage disposal led to the deteriorating quality of tap water,” said a report.
  

• Chinese city of Handan, located in Hebei province, fails to report huge toxic leak into Zhanghe River, cuts off water to 1 million.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun