Weekend respite from heat wave, but no rain yet: Met
According to the RMC, after the extreme heat, there is a slight probability of the city getting drizzles during the period.
Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state on Thursday declared a state of emergency, with bushfire conditions expected to worsen over the coming days as a record-breaking heatwave sweeps across the country.
In effect for the next seven days, the declaration will allow Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons to exercise “extraordinary powers to protect life and property”, Xinhua news agency reported.
It was the first time a state of emergency has been enacted in NSW since 2013.
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So far in this bushfire season, six people have lost their lives and almost 800 homes have been destroyed, along with 1,600 other structures.
In November, New South Wales’ Rural Fire Service said Thursday morning there were about 60 fires active, with 30 of them uncontained in the state where some 1,200 firefighters tried to mitigate the flames in the face of worsening conditions, such as rising temperatures and wind.
Dozens of fires also burn in the neighbouring state of Queensland and authorities have ordered an evacuation in towns such as Noosa North Shore and Woodgate.
The fires have been fuelled by tinder-dry conditions after three years of drought that experts say has been exacerbated by climate change, a factor that has sparked a sharp political debate in recent days.
Several new fires broke out to scores of blazes that have been burning for several days across New South Wales (NSW) state.
Queensland is on high alert amid severe fire conditions, with a forecast wind change expected to worsen several large blazes in difficult-to-access areas of the state.
About 70 fires are burning in the state, with Pechey residents told the safest option is to leave the area as conditions are currently too dangerous.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack had said that linking the fires to the government’s support of the coal industry was “the ravings of some pure, enlightened and woke capital city greenies”.
(With inputs from agency)
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