Sydney, Australia, Feb 16 (EFE).- At least 44 properties were homes by two bushfires that raged earlier this week in Grampians National Park, in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, officials said Friday.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan speaks to the media at Dadswell Bridge Country Fire Authority centre in Dadswell Bridge, Victoria, Australia, 15 February 2024. EFE-EPA/JOEL CARRETT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
Most of the damage occurred in the rural town of Pomonal, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the city of Melbourne, where the fires burned over two dozen homes, one business and a primary school.
“For people who know that beautiful part of the Grampians know that Pomonal is a little community so that is a significant proportion, perhaps as much as half of the town that has experienced loss,” Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan told public broadcaster ABC Melbourne.
Allan did not provide details of the type of properties damaged by the fires as the authorities are continuing to evaluate the impact of the natural disaster, which is becoming more intense and frequent in Australia.
“We do need to take this at a broader level because we saw the same thing coming out of Queensland with the cyclone events before Christmas,” Allan said, alluding to the need to improve preparedness for a coordinated response.
The bushfires in the Grampians and other areas of Victoria raged on Tuesday, when temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong winds wreaked havoc in several parts of the region, which also experienced a series of thunderstorms and dry conditions.
The extreme weather conditions also caused the death of a farmer who was hit by flying debris while driving his tractor during a storm in the rural town of Mirboo North, about 150 kilometers east of Melbourne.
They also left 530,000 homes and businesses without power in Victoria, Australia’s second most populated state, of which about 33,000 continue to remain without electricity, according to the premier.
The extreme weather the region experienced this week is reminiscent of the fires of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season, also known as Black Summer, which claimed the lives of 33 people on the country’s east coast, burned some 3,000 homes and around 180,000 square kilometers (69,498 square miles) of land.
The fire season in Australia, one of the world’s largest polluters per capita and among the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, varies depending on the area and weather conditions, although they are generally recorded in summer, between the months of December and March. EFE
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