Heatwave in SE Australia

[Aliantha]

Did you know that according to the BOM it was 47.9 at Avalon today? You wouldn't think it could get that high.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by DucksNuts

we are covered in smoke and kinda concerned if they don't get the fires under control before the wind change this evening.

we don't want another ash wednesday, I would link to those fires, but im posting on my mobile phone.

Ducks...are you getting out of the area? Don't stay if you're in danger...not with the kids to think of. It's just not worth it, but you know that.

I hope you're all ok. Check in and let us know how you're going huh?

[ZenGum]

Minor news first. In Adelaide the heatwave is over for now, the southerly change is in, it feels bloody great and the nasty bushfire north of the city is under control. It will reach Melbourne soon.
I was just thinking with relief that we had had a lucky escape from a major fire disaster.


Wrong.

Fourteen people are dead and at least 100 homes have been destroyed as fires burn over tens of thousands of hectares in Victoria and New South Wales.

Six have been killed at Kinglake, four at Wandong, three at Strathewen and one at Clonbinane. Police fear up to 40 people may have died.

Much more detail here including:

A fire burning from Kilmore to Yarra Glen, north of Melbourne has turned into a massive blaze of around 10,000 hectares that officials say is almost impossible to control.

Fires are becoming so big that they are creating their own weather.

Senior weather forecaster, Terry Ryan, says thunderstorms are forming over fire-affected parts of west Gippsland.

"We call it pyrocumulus, where all the ash coming out of the fire causes lifting and convection, and can cause a thunderstorm-looking top," he said.

"You can get thunderstorms and lightning coming out of the top of the fire basically, and that can add to the fire's effect, a bit of a nasty feedback effect that can occasionally happen."

DucksNuts, Kingswood, Alphajerk, please report in.




ETA:

Six people are known to have died at Kinglake, north of Melbourne, when fire swept through the entire town.

Local resident Peter Mitchell told ABC Local Radio that buildings all around him were on fire as he sheltered at the fire station.

"The whole of Kinglake is ablaze, I live a couple of [kilometres] out of town, I heard explosions, by the time I got to the road there were fires everywhere," he said.

"[There is] flame everywhere, trees exploding, gas tanks exploding, buildings on fire, it's very, very, very serious.

"I can't quite see down into the main stretch of town, but there's a lot of flame coming up from there, so I presume most of the town is going up.

[Sundae]

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

WTF??? Minnesota? February? Are you talking centigrade or farenheit?

Haha, if it was 40 degrees centigrade here in February we would have broke the temperature record by 50-60 degrees F or 35 degrees C.

Though 40 degrees is still very warm for here. We tied the high temperature record with 46 degrees F or so last Saturday. Not as warm this week but still a good 10 degrees above average.

I am welcoming it fully.

[ZenGum]

Updated information http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...08/2485317.htm.

It is pretty much normal each summer to have scrub and forest burn.
It is not unusual to lose sheds, fences, livestock, and maybe a few isolated farmhouses.
In this fire we are losing whole towns. This is very rare - not since the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 have we seen the like, although the Canberra fires of 2003 came close.

Raylene Kincaide from Narbethong north-east of Melbourne says her home has been destroyed and there is little left of the town.

"Everyone we know has lost everything they had - it's not nice," she said. "I've been in Ash Wednesday but this is probably worse."

ABC Local Radio caller Georgina, whose husband battled to save the town of Strathewen with CFA volunteers, says the town has been devastated by the devastating fires.

She fears many of the town's residents may have lost their lives.

"It's just absolute devastation and people have seen things today that have been absolutely horrific," she said.

"There's a lot of families in Strathewen that we haven't been able to account for.

"The school's gone, the hall's gone... some people left it too late. We've lost friends, and we're just waiting for more - children, loved ones."

She says the town is largely inaccessible as fallen logs and debris block the main roads, but has urged trapped residents to remain optimistic.

"They're just so cut off out there and we just wait for daylight now and hope that there's nothing out there left to burn," she said.

"They're calling out to houses and they can't hear people answering. Hang in there anybody that's listening and still cut off because they're coming."

The Country Fire Authority says there is "possibly one building left standing" in Marysville, after relentless bushfires engulfed the town, north of Melbourne.

Fuck.

[Kingswood]

My two nephews who live in Kinglake are safe but the news I have so far is that one of my nephews has lost his house to the fires. I have no word yet on the state of the other house but it is very likely that has gone as well. Almost every house in Kinglake has been burnt.

I am still waiting on news from other people I know living in the district.

[ZenGum]

Glad you're ok, Kingswood, thanks for checking in.

Ducks?

Alpha?

[Nirvana]

I would say "Fuck" is an understatement!

[DucksNuts]

Present and accounted for.

We are still a little way North of the trouble area. We are having huge issues with asthma sufferers because of the smoke and my parents (who are a bit closer) are on flying ember alert.

My friends have lost their beautiful home and valley property at Kinglake, but they are safe and thats the main thing.

[Aliantha]

Glad you're ok Ducks...you too kingswood.

Isn't Alpha in Melb city?

[ZenGum]

Alpha is in Mt Evelyn, which is on the eastern edge of Melbourne (37 km from CBD) nestled into the Dandenong ranges. Sounds like a lovely place but could be dodgy in a fire.

I have emailed him via the cellar page, asking him to visit this thread.

[Aliantha]

Oh yeah...the Dandenong ranges are beautiful, but you're right. Not too many roads in or out really.

Maybe we should leave some bacon out for him. That might bring him sniffing around.

[Hagar]

Wow. We travelled in and around Marysville last year. It's very pretty country, nice people too. This is really terrible. They're reporting 84 dead, but it's sure to rise.

[ZenGum]

Hundreds of homes have already been destroyed and at least 200,000 hectares of land has been burnt out in more than 400 fires in every part of the state over the weekend.

There are 84 confirmed dead, and there are many in hospital with burns, including several "not expected to live". More than 700 houses have been lost, and the fires are not under control yet.

At least some of these were the work of arsonists.