The forest fires that burn uncontrollably in Australia have forced thousands of people to take refuge on beaches in the southeast of the country, where the fire has caused 12 deaths and burned an area similar to that of Costa Rica in recent months.
Hundreds of fires burn on this last day of 2019 in Australia, where the focus is mainly on the southeast coast of the country due to high temperatures, high winds and the advance of the flames towards the coast.
4,000 evacuated on the beach
In the coastal town of Mallacoota , about 500 kilometers east of Melbourne , some 4,000 locals and tourists have had to take refuge on the beach, and those who were lucky have done so with lifeguards and aboard ships, in the middle of a red sky dark and dense smoke by the flames, according to images disseminated by the media and social networks.
In that tourist town the thermometers rose to 49 degrees and the winds blew with an intensity of 80 kilometers per hour, maximizing the tension during the day, until a change in the direction of the winds temporarily put Mallacoota out of danger righ now.
Mallacoota is part of East Gippsland , a region of the state of Victoria that encompasses various national parks and heavily affected by the more than 300 forest fires that have burned more than 200,000 hectares of land.
Military aid for evacuations
In the morning, the head of the Victoria government, Daniel Andrews , said that there are fears for the situation of four people who have not been located in the areas where several outbreaks burn in this state in the southeast of the country, which have also caused " very significant losses of property, livestock, fences and sheds. "
At Andrews' request, the Australian government will send three helicopters, an airplane and two ships, in addition to military personnel, to Victoria to help evacuate those affected, Defense Minister Linda Reynolds reported on Twitter.
A HORRIBLE DAY FOR NEW SOUTH WALES
The southern tip of New South Wales, bordering Victoria and the one most affected by forest fires, lived a "horrible day" with three deaths in the last 24 hours, according to a press conference said the head of the government of that state, Gladys Berijiklian.
"After the tragic death of a volunteer firefighter last night, it has been confirmed that there are two dead in Cobargo, the police have confirmed it, and a third is missing," Berijiklian explained when referring to a father and his son who died trying to protect their home .
With the death of the two people in Cobargo and that of the firefighter yesterday, the total number of deaths already rises to twelve, of them eleven in New South Wales.
NO LIGHT, MOBILE OR INTERNET
In addition, dozens of properties destroyed in recent hours have been reported although the number has not been determined, while more than 30,000 people will receive the new year without electricity.
Likewise, the Police of New South Wales confirmed that all telecommunications will be affected between the coastal communities of Nowra and Moruya, 192 and 303 kilometers south of Sydney, respectively.
In Batesman's Bay, between Nowra and Moruya, some residents and tourists were evacuated to the beach before the flames progressed, while some sections of the Princess Highway, the main one on the east coast and surrounded by many sections of forests, were closed.
SYDNEY CELEBRATES WITH PIROTECNIA PESE TO HAVE THE FLAMES NEAR
About 30 kilometers west of Sydney, in the suburb of Greystanes, the emergency has been declared by a fire, one of the more than one hundred bulbs burning in the state.
Despite the crisis and the cancellation of several pyrotechnic New Year shows planned in various locations in New South Wales, Sydney, the largest city in the country and where the municipal authority obtained a special permit from firefighters, maintains its traditional festival of Fireworks planned before a million spectators.
The fires began in September, before the start of the southern summer, which begins in December and in which a shortage of rain is expected until March 21.
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