Huge damage and 24 dead .. Australia assesses the fire damage

On Sunday, the Australian authorities are assessing the “tremendous damage” caused by the fires the day after the twenty-fourth death toll was seen and considered the worst since the crisis began in September due to conditions favorable to the spread of fire.

Hundreds of houses were destroyed, and a man was killed while trying to save a friend’s house on Saturday.

The situation remains serious on Sunday, especially in the state of New South Wales, where 150 fires are still burning, despite the rains that eased the disaster relatively in some areas Sunday.

“We are in a situation we have never seen before,” declared the prime minister of the state, whose capital is Sydney, Gladys Berggillian.

She said that “many villages that had not previously known the danger of forest fires are now under threat.”

And declared a state of emergency in the state in the southeast of the country, which is the most densely populated region in Australia, and Friday orders were issued to evacuate 100,000 people from three states.

Message from the Queen

To confront the serious crisis that has resulted in the destruction of an area of ​​land twice the size of Belgium, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Saturday the mobilization of three thousand soldiers from the reserves to assist the firefighters who are exhausted. This is the largest military mobilization in the country’s history.

And naval ships and combat helicopters have previously moved to carry out the largest evacuation in the country’s history since the Second World War, in the Malaccota area of ​​Victoria, where four thousand people were detained on the beach after the city was surrounded by fire.

Thousands fled in Australia to escape the fires, and among those displaced was Noren Ralston-Pershaw, 75, who on New Year’s Day lost her home in Mugo, 100 km southeast of Canberra.

“I do not wish to return to my home so that I do not see it as ash,” she told France Presse, adding, “I will not build a new home there.”

Morrison announced the creation of a forest fire recovery agency, whose mission is to provide assistance to the affected people over the next two years.

And greeted everyone around the country and abroad the dedication of firefighting teams, who lost three of their elements while fighting fires.

On Sunday Queen Elizabeth II sent a message of condolence to the Governor-General of Australia, who is her representative in the country, expressing her “deep sorrow” and thanked relief workers “who put their lives at risk” to help the population.

Promises of donations

Famous people began collecting donations to support the firefighters and those affected by the fires.

The American singer Pink announced in a tweet that she would give a gift of 500 thousand dollars, as did the Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who wrote on her Instagram account, “Supporting our family’s prayers accompanying all those affected by the fires throughout Australia.”

And after a catastrophic day amid severe weather conditions, the country breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday, with temperatures dropping and rains in some areas of Victoria and New South Wales.

This will allow the authorities to act to control some fires and assess damage in some areas.

But some areas are still in danger of uncontrolled fire, especially in the vicinity of Eden, New South Wales.

“We saw the fire at least 50 meters away, and there was debris falling from the sky, especially white ash,” John Steele, 73, told France Press after he was evacuated Saturday from his home in northern Eden.

Canberra is worse than New Delhi
In the inner Koma region, the catastrophe increased the burden on the population, with a flood caused by the collapse of a huge water tower containing 4.5 million liters of water, causing a torrent of mud to flood some homes.

And classified the “Air Visual” independent site to assess the air quality in cities, Canberra Sunday is at the forefront of the most polluted countries in the world, ahead of New Delhi and Kabul, due to smoke from fires in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, the police intensified their patrols in some of the areas that were affected by the fires, after receiving reports of looting and theft of damaged houses.

In spring and winter, Australia often experiences fires. But it came in this season earlier than it was, and was more prevalent and fierce, especially due to the favorable climatic conditions of fires resulting from global warming.