Australia’s Bushfire Losses Top 1,000

Insurers Receive 1,011 claims for bushfire losses totaling $138 million

As of October 25, insurers in Australia have received 1,011 claims, with the losses caused by October bushfires estimated at $138 million, said the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

“While claims lodgements have stabilised over the past couple of days, we expect these to begin climbing again as returning residents assess any property damage,” said ICA CEO Rob Whelan.

An aerial photo of some of the hundreds of NSW homes destroyed in the October bushfires.

Meantime, Australia’s new Prime Minister Abbott, talking through his hat, has dismissed any link between climate change and the NSW bushfires as “complete hogwash.”

Long-time readers of this blog may recall that FIRE-EARTH climate-related models forecast the extent of damage caused by Victoria’s February 2009 bushfires with great accuracy.

Related Links

• Costs of Back-to-back Disasters in Australia Continue to Mount October 22, 2013
• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast (2011)
• More Australian Coal, Anyone? Posted on January 31, 2011
• State of Emergency Declared in NSW amid Firestorm October 20, 2013
• Australia Declares Emergency as NSW Bushfires Destroy “Hundreds of Homes” October 17, 2013
• Thousands Evacuated due to Bushfires in NSW September 10, 2013
• Australia: Entombed by a ‘dome of heat’ January 8, 2013
• Australia’s Runaway Bushfires Threaten Lives and Property
• Back-to-Back Disasters Could Hit Australia: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Australia on Fire: Tasmania Burning

Fire ‘like an atom bomb’ destroys homes damages Australian observatory

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,153 Days Left 

[January 14, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,153 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

A ‘perfect storm’ of a fire destroys dozens of homes in NSW

• The massive fire has consumed more than 40,000 hectares near the Warrumbungle National Park in Coonabarabran area in New South Wales (NSW), destroying dozens of homes.

• The destructive blaze with a 100-km front has also destroyed scores of other structures, hundreds of livestock and farming machinery, and remained uncontained as of  Monday, local reports said.

• The mega blaze has severely damaged several buildings at Siding Spring Observatory in the national park, but “the main telescope facilities are okay,” said the acting director for the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

• “There was just absolutely no stopping that fire,” a fire official said, adding that wind conditions had created “perfect storm” conditions for the fire to burn “with such a ferocity we haven’t seen in years.”

• “It looked like an atom bomb the way it went up,” said a property owner who lives to the west of the fire.

• “The smoke plume of that fire extended some 14km (8.6 miles) into the air and even prevented us from getting aircraft overhead because of just how dangerous and bumpy the conditions were,” a fire official told reporters.

• At least 200 wildfires sparked by lightning and fueled by hot and windy weather are burning in NSW.

• About 3 dozen fires remain uncontained, officials said.

• Dozens of fires are also burning in Victoria and Tasmania.

• Hottest Hell on Earth Posted January 8, 2013

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• 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

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

Hurricane SANDY Causes Much Destruction in Cuba

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,233 Days Left 

[October 26, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016. 

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,233 Days Left to the ‘Worst 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

SANDY leaves at least two dozen people dead across the Caribbean

The deadly hurricane slammed into Cuba with 180kph winds, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second largest city, took a direct hit from the Cat 3A hurricane, when the storm landed  early Thursday morning.

Hurricane SANDY

Hurricane SANDY Slamming into the Bahamas afetr leaving behind a deadly trail of destruction in Jamaica and Cuba. IR Sat Image (NHC Enhancement)  sourced from CIMSS.

• “Everything is destroyed in Santiago [located about 470 miles SE of Havana; population of >500,000.] People are going to have to work very hard to recover,” a resident of the city, told Reuters.
• The deadly hurricane has reportedly destroyed or damaged many of the city’s 300,000 homes.
• A local TV reporter has described Santiago de Cuba as “a city without trees” after so many were uprooted by SANDY.
• As of 3:00am EDT, SANDY had claimed at least two dozen lives across the Caribbean.
• The hurricane could land along the Mid-Atlantic coast next week.
• Hurricane warnings, storm warnings and watches are in effect along the entire east coast of Florida and Mid-Atlantic coast, as of posting ( Updated Friday @ 9:30UTC ).

SANDY Leaves Battered Bahamas

Hurricane SANDY leaving the Bahamas after battering the islands. IR Sat Image sourced from CIMSS.

Australia

Far western portion of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has been declared a disaster area after bushfires scorched 25,000 hectares of land  in less than a week, a report said.

Myanmar

State of Emergency has been declared  by the Myanmar government after five days of deadly violence between the Buddhists majority and Rohingya people, which have left about 100 dead and thousands of homes burned.

• This week’s clashed are said to be the worst since violence flared up in June, which left at least 80 people dead and up to a 100,000 forced out of their homes, after an alleged rape.
• Myanmar’s estimated 800,000 Rohingya, who are officially stateless, are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, according to the U.N.

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!