It looks apocalyptic Down Under. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in the state of Western Australia this week as wildfires tore through an area near the city of Perth, just as the city was tightly closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Officials say the Wooroloo Fire, which has a radius of 50 kilometers, doubled in size overnight and it almost destroyed 20,000 hectares. More than 70 houses lost since the fire started Monday night, including 80% of all properties in one rural area.
Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan at a media conference on Wednesday said the state was in an “unprecedented situation.”
“We are fighting disasters in two areas: the devastating forest fires and the Covid-19 pandemic,” McGowan said.
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The city and parts of Western Australia were already under five days’ lockout after a security guard at a hotel used as a quarantine facility in Perth. tested positive for coronavirus Monday. It may seem too much for just one case, but these kinds of aggressive measures have reduced the total deaths of Australia during the pandemic less than 1,000.
The quarantine in Australia’s fourth largest city was to be lifted on Friday, but officials told residents that evacuation orders and personal safety during the fire dominated any government pandemic closure orders. The US has dealt with a similar situation in the past year (minus the exclusion) as veld fires tore across the West, forcing widespread evacuations, even as the pandemic raged. The pandemic in Australia is fortunately more under control, but the evacuations could jeopardize the delicate balance that the country is reaching.
“Let me be clear: I call on people to stay informed and prepare themselves,” said Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson. residents said Wednesday. ‘If you are threatened, leave your property and go to a suitable premises. Do not stay in the property if you think you have to follow the covid-19 rules. ”
It’s summer in Australia, and the wildfire season has become increasingly devastating as the planet warms. Destructive fires last year killed at least 34 people and burned through 48 million acres. Scientists estimate that a 3 billion jaw animals also died or was displaced, bringing 113 species to the edge of extinction.
Last year was the country’s land fourth warmest year on record, The Australian weather office said last month. For Western Australia, the rank was even higher with the state experiencing the second warmest year. Lesley Hughes, a member of Australia’s climate council and forest fire expert, said in a statement that the southwest has received very little rainfall over the past few months compared to the rest of the country. This is part of a long-term drought trend, with winter rainfall declining by 20 percent since the 1970s. ‘
This is in line with the increasingly dire situation, not only for the state but also in Australia. A report released last year showed that climate change exacerbated the hot, dry conditions that led to the intense forest fire season by as much as 30 percent. Rising temperatures will only make the landscape more flammable.