Wildfires Ravage Australia During Record Heatwave

Towns in Tasmania are burning, and the most heavily populated part of the country in New South Wales is fighting violent gusts of wind and vicious brush fires.

High winds and a record heatwave have created some of worst fire conditions in Australian history.

Image by New South Wales Rural Fire Service / AP

1. It’s reported that more than 130 fires have started in the country’s most populated state, New South Wales.

Image by New South Wales Rural Fire Service / AP

2. The Australian federal government is already preparing financial aid to victims of the wildfires.

Image by New South Wales Rural Fire Service / AP

3. “We are at the catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said of conditions there.

Image by New South Wales Rural Fire Service / AP

4. The biggest concern is the lack of rain and strength of the winds growing the fires to full force again.

Image by New South Wales Rural Fire Service / AP

It’s been reported that more than 100 properties in Australia’s smallest state, the Island of Tasmania, have been destroyed.

Image by Chris Kidd, Pool / AP

Around 100 residents in the town of Dunalley, in Tasmania, have gone missing after the first bout of fires broke out.

Image by Chris Kidd, Pool / AP

5. The heatwave has lasted four months unabided.

Image by Chris Kidd, Pool / AP

The heat has become so bad that they’ve had to use a new color on their weather maps, purple, to note that temperatures have surpassed 129 degrees Fahrenheit.

Via: qz.com

Read More: (Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, weather.com)