Death toll reaches eight as military begins evacuation of south coast
Bushland burned out by bushfires surrounds the Princes Highway in Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia.Thousands of tourists fled Australia’s wildfire-ravaged eastern coast Thursday ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south.
“There is every potential that the conditions on Saturday will be as bad or worse than we saw ,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said.Authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales southern coast this week and at least eight people have died this week in the state and neighbouring Victoria, Australia’s two most-populous states, where more than 200 fires are currently burning.
In Victoria, where 68 homes have burned this week, the military was helping thousands of people who fled to the shore as a wildfire threatened their homes Tuesday in the coastal town of Mallacoota. Food, water, fuel and medical expertise were being delivered and about 500 people were going to be evacuated from the town by a naval ship.
The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has led authorities to rate this season the worst on record. About 5 million hectares of land have burned, with at least 17 people dead and more than 1,300 homes destroyed.
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