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NSW fires live updates: RFS warns south coast tourists to leave as Victoria bushfires continue – latest NSW fires live updates: RFS warns south coast tourists to leave as Victoria bushfires continue – latest
(30 minutes later)
At least nine people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales South Coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates todayAt least nine people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales South Coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates today
On the subject of the long queues at supermarkets on the NSW South Coast, I have received this statement from a Woolworths spokesperson:
For those in Bateman’s Bay, due to power and phone issues, the Woolies there is only accepting cash. Eftpos is not available.
More from that press conference with authorities in eastern Victoria.
My colleague, Calla Wahlquist, was in Lake Tyers this week.
The Insurance Council has updated its figures this morning: there have now been 4,299 claims made totalling $297m.
We’ve just been to a briefing about the evacuation of Bendalong. There are about 1000 people in the caravan park, including huge numbers of kids, plus at least 3000 more in the villages of Bendalong, North Bendalong, Manyana and Cunjurong Point.
We’ve been told they will be letting people out in groups of 20 and we will be given time slots to leave over the next two days. They really want people out by Saturday, when the conditions are forecast to be catastrophic.
The Bendalong road, the only way in and out has been impacted heavily by fire and we were told we would be driving over downed power lines.
Once people reach the highway, they are expecting it to take 4 hours to reach Nowra, which usually takes 40 minutes.
The big message is: don’t go if you don’t have enough fuel.
The meeting was pretty calm but clearly families are keen to get out.
Police in Victoria have charged a 36-year-old man with arson for allegedly starting a small fire in Johnsonville, which is in the midst of the bushfire-affected area in East Gippsland between Nicholson and Swan Reach, at 6.45pm last night.
The charges, according to leading senior constable Natalie Dean, was “recklessly cause bushfire and drug-related offences. The man will appear in Bairnsdale magistrates court this morning.”
There is obviously a pretty emotional reaction to these kind of charges when Australia is in the grips of a bushfire crisis and federal politicians have been highlighting the role of arsonists in starting bushfires, but it is worth noting that the vast majority of the bushfires that are burning in Australia right now were started by lightning.
The three major fires that form the East Gippsland fire complex were all started by lightning, and hundreds more small fires were started by lightning when the pyrocumulonimbus from the 14km-high smoke column began generating its own thunderstorms. You can read more about that phenomenon here.
According to Crime Statistics Victoria, there were 32 recorded incidents of someone being charged with causing a bushfire between 1 January and 30 September, 2019. In 2018, 48 incidents of someone being charged with causing a bushfire were recorded.
The insurance industry has declared a catastrophe in hundreds of postcodes, stretching from East Gippsland in Victoria all the way north to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
So far there have been 3,870 insurance claims totalling more than $182m – but these numbers are bound to soar once damage is assessed from the fires over the new year period.
The Black Saturday fires in Victoria in 2009, which killed 173 people, caused about $1.7bn in damage, while the 1967 Black Tuesday fires in Tasmania, which killed 62 people, did more than $2bn in damage (in 2017 dollars).
There is huge concern among people on the NSW south coast, as there would be in East Gippsland, in areas that have not yet burned.
The situation that has fuelled much of this bushfire crisis – tinder-dry bushland after a severe drought – means the high risk remains in places that have not yet burned. The forecast for extreme weather conditions at the weekend are also scary.
Katherine Boland, an artist and author from Merimbula on the NSW south coast, told Guardian Australia yesterday she would be at great risk if the bush near her property was in the path of a fire.
“The worry for me is where I live at Merimbula is on the lake. My 90-year-old mother lives a couple of doors down from where I live. I’m thinking about how I could get her out and where could I go.
“I’ve actually lived in the area near the bush for 30 years. There were quite a few scary incidents but I’ve never experienced anything like this in my 30 years living in this area.
“We lived in the bush for all that time and never had to be evacuated. Everybody in this area knew this was going to happen, it’s been so bad here that even the natives, the gum trees were stressed out and dying. It’s tinder dry.”
Tony Murphy, the deputy emergency management Victoria commissioner, says authorities have already moved vulnerable people out of Mallacoota, the small coastal community on the Victoria-NSW border.Tony Murphy, the deputy emergency management Victoria commissioner, says authorities have already moved vulnerable people out of Mallacoota, the small coastal community on the Victoria-NSW border.
You’ll remember 4,000 people were huddled on the beach there on Tuesday as fire converged on the town. They have since been waiting for HMAS Choules to arrive. You’ll remember 4,000 people were huddled on the beach there on Tuesday as fire converged on the town. They have since been waiting for navy ship HMAS Choules to arrive.
Murphy says they will “have the opportunity” to evacuate 500 people today, but he notes some people with 4WDs and caravans may wish to stay and leave later by road.Murphy says they will “have the opportunity” to evacuate 500 people today, but he notes some people with 4WDs and caravans may wish to stay and leave later by road.
He warns that might take two to three weeks.He warns that might take two to three weeks.
Murphy says that the message from authorities is that those in a remote area or at-risk areas should leave, and leave early.
He says the best option is to move to a major centre where there are services and support available.
“So if you’re in remote communities, we’ll be sending out strong messaging you shouldn’t be there, you should be in a safer place. That will be a very strong message.”
Andy Gillem, the Gippsland incident controller, says there are 900 people are working north of Bairnsdale, including towns like Clifton Creek, which was heavily impacted by the fires.
He says there are active fires in the Swift’s Creek Valley, and another creeping towards Ensay, the bottom of Mount Hotham and the Omeo area.
“The fire crews are preparing the communities for the coming period of warm weather on the Friday and Saturday, and also to allow the emergency services to get access to the communities that are isolated,” he says.
“There’s a lot of fire-affected roads and tracks and crews are working hard to maintain or regain access to those areas.”
A briefing has begun in Bairnsdale in East Gippsland.
There are 50 fires burning throughout the state, says Tony Murphy, the deputy emergency management Victoria commissioner.
“The other issue we do have at the moment, we’re anticipating some very significant fire weather coming into the weekend and on Saturday and that runs the risk of these fires growing in size yet again,” Murphy says.
“The other point I would like to make, we’re offering some very significant relief to communities at the moment, including communities like Mallacoota, but also more remote communities in Gippsland, like Cann River.”
Things are looking very difficult in Narooma.
Meanwhile, the ABC’s Melissa Clarke is in Moruya, where she says people have been queuing outside the local supermarket since 6am.
Staff have been letting people in 20 at a time to avoid chaos, Clarke says.
Here is the top 10 cities with the worst air quality in the world. At 10am, Canberra again has topped the list.
Sydney is in 34th place.
We’ve heard people have been rushing to hardware stores to pick up face masks. Some have sold out.
It looks like lots of people are heeding the advice of authorities telling people to get out of the NSW south coast in the next 24 hours.
I have received two separate emails from people telling me that the residents in the small NSW community of Tumbarumba have been advised to evacuate the town ahead of Saturday.
Fire crews have told residents they can’t guarantee the safety of those in the town with fierce winds predicted. There is currently no phone coverage or electricity.
This area is outside the south coast region where the RFS has said holidaymakers must leave. Roads to the north, south and east are blocked by fire.
Yesterday, the air quality in Canberra was at one point the worst of any city in the world.