Australia fires: two people dead, 100+ homes destroyed

[hatcheckgirl]

I know, it’s just horrific watching it on the news, knowing all we can do is pray for our brothers and sisters, family and friends caught up in this. I actually thought I was too far to be affected here in the west. But there are bushfires also along the only East-West road. Trucks can’t get food to Perth, and they expect to be stuck out on the Nullarbor for 5 days at least! We can expect food shortages soon. 

Norseman in WA, a town with a small congregation is surrounded by fires, and no one can leave as all roads out are blocked. 

 

Meanwhile, all people are stuck along the Eyre Hwy, in searing heat and food at the truck stops is running out. It’s all a bit surreal 😱.
 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-01/road-closures-cause-nullarbor-travel-chaos/11836476
 

 

[Awakened]

I hear over a half billion animals are estimated to have died in the fires. 😞

[Medit8]

21 hours ago, bushbard said:

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.

Our CO informed us this morning that 6 or 7 Witness families have lost their homes so far 😥

 

Brothers in a town called Batlow have been ordered to evacuate as there is no chance of saving the town.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Medit8

[hatcheckgirl]

In the town of Cobargo, no one wants to shake the Prime Minister ‘s hand. Poor people have lost everything. 

[Bek]

2 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

In the town of Cobargo, no one wants to shake the Prime Minister ‘s hand. Poor people have lost everything. 

Wow, he was really savaged there,  but I understand people's anger.  

 

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Bek

[hatcheckgirl]

South Australia - Unfortunately two more lives lost in a ferocious fire burning since Middle of December on Kangaroo Island, just off Adelaide. A quarter of the island has been burnt out, many houses and tourism infrastructure destroyed. 

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-04/change-brings-relief-to-fire-ravaged-kangaroo-island/11840422

 

South Australia's Kangaroo Island koalas have been found to be free from the disease that is threatening koala populations around Australia, particularly in Australia's north-east where populations are declining dramatically. And now even these disease-free animals have lost their habitat and possibly some have perished. All creation is suffering.

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

To give some scale to what has happened here so far, international media outlets have been reporting the

2018 California fires burnt 2 million acres; the

2019 Amazon fires 2.2 million; and the

2019 Siberian fires 6.7 million.

 

So far Australia's 2019/20 fires have burnt 12 million acres. And we are only in January of a very hot summer...

[New World Explorer]

1 hour ago, hatcheckgirl said:

To give some scale to what has happened here so far, international media outlets have been reporting the

2018 California fires burnt 2 million acres; the

2019 Amazon fires 2.2 million; and the

2019 Siberian fires 6.7 million.

 

So far Australia's 2019/20 fires have burnt 12 million acres. And we are only in January of a very hot summer...

The impact of those fires is huge, I do not remember anything like this ever.... 500 million animals perished. 

News media reporting that fires might cut off Hume Hwy, and this is our main supply chain between Sydney and Melbourne 

Also food supply travels through Hume Hwy from farms in Victoria.... it’s getting worse. Military is already involved helping. 

Edited January 4, 2020 by New World Explorer

[hatcheckgirl]

Eyre Hwy is cut too due to fires in the desert- the East West road from Adelaide to Perth. Trucks and tourists in their hundreds are stuck there. Fresh food bound for Perth is on those trucks. 😱

Edited January 4, 2020 by hatcheckgirl

[Stee]

I could smell the smoke the other day and then we got alerted that there was some fires close to home..fortunately, they were only small and are now under control.

My heart breaks watching this all unfold on the news..my heart goes out to the people and the poor animals.
Really hope that they get them under control.
 

1 hour ago, hatcheckgirl said:

To give some scale to what has happened here so far, international media outlets have been reporting the

2018 California fires burnt 2 million acres; the

2019 Amazon fires 2.2 million; and the

2019 Siberian fires 6.7 million.

 

So far Australia's 2019/20 fires have burnt 12 million acres. And we are only in January of a very hot summer...

Thats crazy! 😢 

[New World Explorer]

1 minute ago, hatcheckgirl said:

Eyre Hwy is cut too - the East West road from Adelaide to Perth. Trucks and tourists in their hundreds are stuck there. Fresh food bound for Perth is on those trucks. 😱

This is just unbelievable.... they talk about prices of dairy and meat hike and ....shortage. 

I am buying long life milk just in case  ( stock up) 

I just saw a person in a supermarket buying more then 100 bottles of water ...people are preparing for worse. 

[Stee]

2 minutes ago, New World Explorer said:

This is just unbelievable.... they talk about prices of dairy and meat hike and ....shortage. 

I am buying long life milk just in case  ( stock up) 

I just saw a person in a supermarket buying more then 100 bottles of water ...people are preparing for worse. 

Good idea. 💡 

I definitely want to stock up on water and the dogs food. 

[Lewis]

The Bairnsdale incident controllers were asked how long they think the fires can continue to burn for, and the answer was a long time.

 

Based on the best estimate, we would say at least another eight weeks ... we are only at the beginning of summer. In a normal year, we would start to see the fire season kickoff in a big way around early January and we’re already up towards a million hectares of burnt country. We would expect – we are in for the long haul. This is a marathon event and we expect to be busy managing these fires for at least the next eight weeks.

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Lewis

[JennyM]

its good that they already finished the conventions.  3 years before our organization has formed a disaster relief committee all around the world. 

[GeordieGirl]

Some of this has been covered but there is some other interesting information covered in this article: 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50951043

[Thomas Walker]

A historian named Bodie Ashton has created a Twitter thread to try and explain the situation to people not here in Oz.

 

Here are some selections:

 

 

 

 

(He gets far more critical of the government than that, but such is not the point of this topic.)

 

 

https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1212523819791003650-1-png__700.jpg

 

(There was a petition to cancel our New Years fireworks and put it towards the Volunteer Fire Department. But at that point, the money had already been spent.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

We heard from my Uncle, closer to the area than we are. His congregation has been put on alert that they'll likely be taking in some refugee brothers and sisters soon; giving them a place to live until the crisis is over.

 

Projections say that the fires will continue for the next eight weeks at least.

 

It's like the end of the world.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Thomas Walker

[Friends just call me Ross]

Last night's NBC News said 

there are now nineteen dead.

 

Those fire-line distance comparisons

are staggering!

 

Even rotating fire crews,

the volunteers must be

completely exhausted.

 

Praying for the fire refugees 

and their host families.  💙

[Friends just call me Ross]

Been listening to one of three fire channels for the past forty minutes.

 

You can actually hear the weariness in the crew leaders' voices.

[AH173]

I'm so sorry to hear of the devastation in Australia because of the many fires. 

 

A few days ago I was reading on CNN.com about the dust/ soot from the fires in Australia and Amazon/Brazil area are going to nearby glaciers and is instrumental to more quicker melting of the glaciers in their respective areas. 

 

Its all bad news of man's hurting of globe for money and power. Last days indeed.

 

Found the article

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/02/australia/new-zealand-glaciers-australia-bushfire-intl-scli/index.html

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by AH173
added link

[sunshine]

Any news of the brothers??!!!

[hatcheckgirl]

This is a massive event, certainly affecting more than just the local population. It’s going to change things globally - politicians will have to change their spin on how to manage emissions and meet agreed climate change levels (Australia is already at 50-75% of the agreed emissions level for this year). So it will severely impact on our world economies that rely on coal production to drive our economies. The changes govts thought would be needed in future generations time (aka after these greedy ones are dead) can’t be ignored now. Those South Pacific islands that were complaining that climate change is already causing them major issues - well they can’t be ignored. Australia's fires are a wake up call to everyone. Something has changed with our climate, and massive major changes are needed to exist now.

 

And, in the spirit of 2 Tim 3:3 not open to any agreement, the head fire commander of NSW was “blindsighted” by the Prime minister’s announcement that 3000 reserve defence forces are being deployed to help fight fires. He wasn’t told, and learned about this on the news. How logistically is that going to help to coordinate this massive fire? Satan’s world is so divided.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/fires-nsw-rfs-confirms-updated-number-of-homes-destroyed/11841386

 

“Federal Defence Minister Linda Reynolds defended the move to leave the RFS out of the decision to deploy personnel, saying the information had been passed to the Premier.

Speaking on Sunday morning, Mr Morrison admitted there had been a "breakdown in communications" but any issues arising from that had been addressed.”

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

7 minutes ago, sunshine said:

Any news of the brothers??!!!

I am not near the fires, but friends have told me how their relatives over there not directly affected have been asked if they can help with accommodation. One sister told me her son is fighting the fires in Victoria Gippsland, though they live in outer Melbourne and are not affected. Some of our brothers and sisters have lost their homes, farms, businesses no doubt. 

 

Witnessing outdoors has not been affected obviously. The heatwave over in NSW reached 48.5 in the suburbs of western Sydney - a new record. I really feel for our brothers over there. It’s a horrific time for all. May Jehovah strengthen them to keep them going and comfort each other and the ones in the field.

[GeordieGirl]

On top of the fires in the East, there is this happening on the West side of the country: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-03/nullarbor-road-closures-to-last-five-days-causing-food-shortages/11837324

 

About 140 firefighters are battling eight fire fronts that have cut off the small WA town of Norseman, about 700 kilometres south-east of Perth, for extended periods since the first blaze began on December 16.

 

The situation escalated recently when authorities advised the Eyre Highway — the only sealed road linking Western Australia and South Australia — would be closed for at least the next five days.

 

A fire emergency, which has since been downgraded, was also declared for the Balladonia Roadhouse, which is located 220 kilometres east of Norseman and 155 kilometres to the west of the Caiguna Roadhouse, where about 250 truck drivers and holidaymakers have become stranded.

 

Authorities are turning back west-bound motorists at Eucla, 12 kilometres west of the South Australian border, because the supply situation at roadhouses along the 1,660-kilometre-long Eyre Highway has become dire.

 

Department of Fire and Emergency Services incident controller Peter Sutton said the catastrophic fire conditions in the region were not helping, with the mercury hitting 47 degrees Celsius in Caiguna yesterday.

"We are seeing new fires each day and are expecting a lightning belt to come through here soon with dry lightning and we expect that will start additional fires," Mr Sutton said.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by GeordieGirl

[Loopy]

O my! 😳

 

Our friends in Australia have definitely been in my prayers

[SUNRAY]

13 minutes ago, Loopy said:

O my! 😳

 

Our friends in Australia have definitely been in my prayers

...my husband's and my prayers also..🙏

Edited January 6, 2020 by SUNRAY
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