Embattled Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says government will pay ‘whatever it takes’
This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.An ember burns among blackened trees after a wildfire ripped through near Kangaroo Valley, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. The deadly wildfires, which have been raging since September, have already burned about 5 million hectares of land and destroyed more than 1,500 homes.
Rain and cooler temperatures were bringing some measure of relief to those communities battling wildfires. More than 135 fires were still burning across the state, including almost 70 that were not contained. The Rural Fire Service is warning the rain won’t put out the largest and most dangerous blazes before conditions deteriorate again this week.
“Unfortunately, overnight, it’s become apparent that we have two people unaccounted for in New South Wales,” she said at a news conference, adding she still held out hope for some good news to emerge about them. But the moves did little to tamp down the criticism that he had been slow to act, even as he has downplayed the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes.
He has faced widespread criticism for taking a family vacation in Hawaii at the start of the wildfire crisis, as well as for his sometimes distracted approach as the disaster has escalated and his slowness in deploying resources.
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