Australia fires: two people dead, 100+ homes destroyed

[JennyM]

im speechless. 

[hatcheckgirl]

1 hour ago, Maʹher-shalʹal-hash-baz said:

This one is burning on their property as we speak.

Where is this one burning? Poor brothers 🥺

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Where is this one burning? Poor brothers

This is the one West of Sydney. They posted the pic on Insta. We met them when they were on vacation here. They came off their ship and visited our cart a few months back.

What a traumatic turn of events.

The lastTV news I watched last night reported that there were that no houses had been lost in the area - just out-buildings. I hope this has not changed this morning.

 

Just Older

 

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

Oh my! I just read up on that fire West of Sydney. A lot of loss, so very sad for them. Did they evacuate, do you know?

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Sorry, I know they were evacuating last night when they took the pic. But I have not heard since...

Just Older

[hatcheckgirl]

May Jehovah help them with their travel plans if that is still possible in these circumstances.. They really need this spiritual boost!

[hatcheckgirl]

Aftermath of the fires still burning around Sydney is the ash falling into the ocean and washing up on beaches, and also possibly landing in the water catchment area. This means the drinking water will be contaminated for the city - really bad outcome for such a big population.

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fears-for-drinking-water-as-ash-turns-sydney-s-beaches-black

 

 

 

And and of course the wildlife has been terribly affected.  A third of the koala inhabited bush has been destroyed, with a loss of 2000 koalas, sadly. They are already under threat due to habitat encroachment, and now this situation is disastrous for them.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/more-than-2-000-koalas-feared-dead-in-nsw-bushfire-emergency

[hatcheckgirl]

Sydney -11 times more hazardous air quality due to the thick smoke trapped there from the fires 😭 It’s triggering smoke alarms in offices and underground railways, causing evacuations.

 

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sydney-workers-evacuated-as-smoke-triggers-alarms-at-offices-train-stations

 

[Tortuga]

Does everyone have a good supply of N95 masks?

 

When the fires started in California some people thought a surgical mask would protect them from particulates but it doesn't. 

[hatcheckgirl]

Thanks to yours and others comments in the Californian fires thread last time, I was able to let my family in Sydney know to get the right ones. 👍

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

Made it to our website...

 

https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/australia/Bushfires-Ravage-Australia/

 

Just Older

 

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

This weekend is another one of scorching temps and bushfires still not controlled flaring up closer to populated areas. State govt in NSW has closed down major highways, warning only essential travel. The app Fires Near Me says it all in this pic of the East Coast of Ausatralia. 
 

'Selfish and inconsiderate': Police warn road travellers against moving through fire risk areas 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-21/nsw-bushfires-sydney-heatwave-inflames-catastrophic-danger/11820578

 

Several major roads and highways are closed, including the Princes Highway which is closed between The Wool Road Basin View and Bendalong Road. 

The Great Western Highway is now closed between Lithgow and Kartoomba.

Bells Line of Road and Chifley Road are also closed between Kurrajong Heights and Lithgow. 

The Hume Highway closure has been revised. It is now closed between Narellan Road, Campelltown and the Olde Hume Highway Alpine.

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by hatcheckgirl

[hatcheckgirl]

The ring of fire around Sydney is still uncontrollable with 20,000 people in the path of the mega fire rolling down the Blue Mountains into the town of Lithgow. 
 

Sydney is barricaded in by road, as there’s no way to get over the Blue Mountains, both the Hwy and Bells Line of Road blocked, and Hume hwy also blocked south of Sydney. 
 

In South Australia 86 homes and 500 buildings lost in the picturesque Adelaide Hills. One third of the area’s grape production is gone. One person died defending his property, three more in hospital.
 

How does one rebuild? Honestly, this is by far the worst fire catastrophe ever, and Australia does have bushfires, but nothing like this season. No chance of rain for months, with soaring temps returning in Adelaide later this week. 
 

About 100 homes destroyed as fire crews take advantage of cool weather

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-23/rfs-assesses-damage-from-weekend-blazes-as-weather-cools/11822152

 

[hatcheckgirl]

Adelaide cyclist has 'never seen a koala do this' as heatwave continues

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-28/thirsty-koala-fed-by-cyclist-in-adelaide/11830276

 

It came up to them and drank from the cyclist’s water bottle. 
 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

11 lives lost and 900 homes.

 

“This is absolutely one of the worst seasons we’ve seen.”

“We’ve got fires burning from the Queensland border all the way down to the Victorian border, across the great dividing range,” says FitzSimmons.

 

There have ben multiple challenges, he says, noting that today conditions didn’t allow for the flying of some aerial support craft.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2019/dec/31/australia-fires-live-news-nsw-victoria-bushfires-latest-updates

 

Just Older

 

 

 

 

[Lewis]

Yeah looks Iike the entire town may be burned down today, and comms will be lost in the south, really sad for those that live there.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Lewis

[hatcheckgirl]

Mogo zoo saved as staff stay behind to save the animals, while the town was evacuated. They called it “apocalyptic “ and “Armageddon “.

 

Zoo director takes monkeys and pandas to his home to save them from bushfire, but the larger animals had to stay behind and the staff put out the spot fires. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-31/mogo-zoo-and-animals-within-saved-from-bushfire/11834918

 

 

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

A few of the friends have lost houses in Bateman’s bay including ones known to us.
He and his wife are safe. They lost their house and car. They cannot find their 3 cats.
No doubt accurate details will be on our website.
Prayers continue for all suffering.

Just Older

[hatcheckgirl]

Well, we are definitely keeping those poor ones in our prayers. No doubting some of our brothers would have been affected, and you’ve just confirmed it. It’s impossible to escape this massive firestorm affecting so many areas. 🌹😢

[hatcheckgirl]

[Lewis]

There’s been an update on Wiki page on stats for 2019. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushfires_in_Australia

 

5,900,000 hectares burnt

15,000,000 acres

equates to 60,703km2

approx 2500 homes destroyed

18 deaths

500,000,000 (million) animals died

By far the worst fire year so far.

 

[Bek]

Wow, the stats are shocking. I have always thought that Australia is one of the difficult regions prone to droughts and heatwaves, but I never thought that it would be hit with so big fires. Looks like things are far worse than I expected. 

 

If things continue at this rate, the Australians could become one of the first climate migrants. 

[bushbard]

Does anyone have any information of the fires affecting our Brothers and Sisters.  I know that Canberra is covered in severe smoke and no one is able to go out witnessing or meetings.  One Hall is being used by authorities as a base for help.

 

Sad to hear of folk losing their lives and homes and also many are missing.  I hope we all can in some way comfort these folk by comforting them with God's word, if the opportunity arises,  and the hope given to us.

[bushbard]

AUSTRALIA'S CATASTROPHIC 2019-20 BUSHFIRES SEASON AT A GLANCE:

NSW/ACT

 

* 15 people dead, one missing

* More than 110 bushfires burning, more than 50 are out-of-control

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

* 1298 homes confirmed destroyed

VICTORIA

* One person dead, 17 missing

* About 50 bushfires burning

* More than 766,000 hectares burned

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

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

* One person dead

* About 20 bushfires burning, three of significance

* More than 60,000 hectares burned

* 88 homes confirmed destroyed

QUEENSLAND

* About 30 bushfires burning

* 250,000 hectares burned

* 45 homes confirmed destroyed

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

* More than 30 bushfires burning, two of significance

* 1.2 million hectares burned

* One home confirmed destroyed

TASMANIA

* More than 30 bushfires burning, seven of significance

* 8000 hectares burned

* One home confirmed destroyed

[GoldAussieGirl]

Its just horrific where we are is ok but we did have fires about an hours drive from us a week or two ago (Adelaide Hills) I know of two witness families that lost their homes in those fires.

 

Watching the footage in VIC and NSW is just unbelievable. Must be so awful for those caught up in it. Stranded on a beach to escape the flames and as dark as midnight at 9am. Looked like the end of the world. 

 

Have been mentioning all the brothers and sisters affected in my prayers 😔

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by shans81