Australia braces for heavy winds, lightning amid bushfire threat
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Australia braced on Friday for strong winds that could whip up bushfires in two states over the weekend and add to a toll of more than 270 homes destroyed and 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of land ravaged during the past week.
The country’s weather bureau warned that winds and lightning strikes increase the threat to communities across two states on the country’s east coast, which have been ravaged by fire since last Friday.
In New South Wales, 259 homes have been destroyed over the past week and 59 bush or grass fires are still burning, but none are rated at the “catastrophic” warning level triggered earlier in the week, the state’s Rural Fire Service said.
In Queensland, where 16 homes have been destroyed since Nov. 7, 59 fires are still burning.
Firefighters watch the Gospers Mountain fire from a property near Colo Heights, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 15 November 2019. According to media reports, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RSF) issued an emergency warning for the Gospers Mountain blaze as warm high temperatures and strong winds are fanning bushfires throughout the state. EPA-EFE/DEAN LEWINS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT
