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Australia on Thursday ordered the evacuation of tourists and residents on the southeast coast of the country in anticipation of a new heat peak expected Saturday, favorable to the progression of deadly fires.
Uncontrolled fires ravaged the southeast of the country on New Years Eve, killing at least eight people. Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of New South Wales, declared a seven-day state of emergency on Thursday that allows forced evacuations starting Friday.
Since the start of the fire season in September, this is the third time that a state of emergency has been declared in this most populous state in Australia. The announcement comes after New South Wales firefighters asked tourists to leave a 300-kilometer-long stretch of coastline from the town of Nowra (160 km south of Sydney) to the state. from Victoria.
Saturday, dark day on the fire front
Residents and vacationers in two inland areas, notably the touristy Snowy Mountains, between Canberra and Sydney, were urged to leave. People must leave before Saturday, a dark day on the fire front with sustained gusts of wind and expected temperatures above 40 ° C.
This day could be worse than Tuesday, the deadliest since the start of the crisis. At least 18 people have died since the start of the fire season in September. This human toll could further increase, the authorities of the State of Victoria having said Thursday that 17 people are missing on its territory.
Many tourists spent two isolated nights in areas deprived of electricity and communications, with scarce food supplies. The evacuation will be " the largest ever in the region, " said New South Wales Minister of Transport Andrew Constance on ABC.
"So many fires that we are unable to contain"
Long lines of cars spanned miles of roads to Sydney and Canberra on Thursday. State fire department assistant director Rob Rogers added that firefighters were unable to extinguish or even control the fires in progress. " There are so many fires in this area that we are unable to contain " the disaster, he told ABC. " We just have to make sure there is no one left on their way ."
More than 400 homes have been destroyed in the past few days, a number that is expected to increase as firefighters reach the most remote hamlets. Military ships and planes have been deployed, along with emergency personnel, to deliver humanitarian aid and assess the damage in the most remote areas.
Since the start of the fire season, more than 1,300 houses have been reduced to ashes and 5.5 million hectares have gone up in smoke, an area larger than a country like Denmark or the Netherlands. This unprecedented crisis has sparked protests to call on the government to take immediate action against global warming, which scientists say is behind these earlier, longer and more violent fires than ever.
"As if it were the end of the world"
Contacted by RFI, Elise Searson, resident of Batemans Bay, a coastal town located in the evacuation zone, still does not know if she will evacuate the place by Saturday: " We are all responsible for our own safety and for decide whether we want to stay or leave. No one can guarantee our safety. I am exhausted and very shaken by what I saw. I went by car earlier to places where I spent my childhood, where I grew up. I visited friends. And I saw a lot of destruction, many houses burned down, even beaches burned down, some of which we visited just last week. It's really very hard, but at the same time I'm glad I could go home. The family of one of my friends is not so lucky, they lost their three houses in the fire. We had a power outage, but it has come back since Wednesday evening. So we had no wifi, no power, the city was plunged into a dark night, because the public lighting no longer worked. It was a very strange and scary feeling at the same time. As if it were the end of the world . "
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has renewed his support for the lucrative but highly polluting Australian coal industry, is widely criticized. On Thursday, he gave his first press conference since the resurgence of fires and defended his policy on climate change, which he described as " sensible ".
"It's because of global warming"
Jack Egan, who lives in Rosedale, New South Wales, watched his house burn down. He told RFI that like him, many Australians believe that climate change is the cause of the severity of the fires and the prolonged drought. He asked the authorities to act before it was too late: " It is because of global warming that the drought is worse than usual. The fires are due to a drought that has lasted far too long almost everywhere in Australia. What we feared for the future was hitting us head on, and we saw how dangerous it was. These fires are due to global warming and the lack of action by our government and other governments for decades. These fires are a precursor, it will get worse, it will happen more often. The fires will be larger and more intense. I would like so much that Australian officials, and all of Australia, use the current situation, their own experience of drought and fires to draw attention, and to say that all governments in the world must absolutely take more ambitious and effective measures to make this future better. And that the consequences are less serious than you might imagine. "