Australia has ordered the evacuation of towns in the northern state of Queensland after about 80 fires destroyed more than 35 homes in one area and intensified on Saturday due to strong winds.
Blazes around the rural Queensland town of Tara, which was ordered to evacuate Saturday, have burned more than 30,000 hectares and are currently being fought by about 20 units, including firefighting and mapping aircraft, according to a spokesperson for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. Wind forecasts are giving no indication conditions will improve, the spokesperson said.
Authorities issued three emergency warnings to townships in the area to leave immediately on Saturday morning and told another three regions to be under “watch and act” in order to prepare to evacuate.
The fires are a grim and early start to Australia’s summer as the country moves into what weather-watchers expect will be a multiyear stretch of hot and dry conditions under a new El Nino cycle. It also comes just a few years on from a bushfire season that made headlines as the one of the worst on record.
Australia’s Federal Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt, announced an expansion of personal hardship assistance claims on Saturday to residents in six regions of the state already affected. The support covers the costs of essential items plus income-tested grants to reconnect to utilities, he said in a statement.
