An overwhelming spate of wildfires has continued to destroy parts of Australia, with residents forced to take shelter at community centres and beaches along with thousands fleeing the South Coast.
The increasingly dangerous conditions across regions including Victoria and New South Wales has resulted in NSW declaring a week-long state of emergency, as high temperatures and strong winds are expected for the weekend.
The death toll continues to rise with seven deaths since Monday, including volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul and father and son Parick, 29, and Robert Salway, 63, who died in Cobargo.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that Patrick and Robert Salway died after fires hit Cobargo on Monday night.
Taking to Facebook, Patrick’s wife Renee Salway, wrote: “I love you, I love you still, I always have and I always will.I will see you again Patrick, my best friend. Hope you are up there ‘fixing things in the stars tonight.”
In addition to the fires, local media reports traffic chaos with authorities asking people to evacuate the South Coast, leaving many wondering if it’s safe to travel to the country amid the destruction.
“With the widespread power and communications outages across the South Coast please share this information to as many affected people as possible.”
Victoria Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp also said to tourists: “If you’re holidaying in that part of the state, it’s time that you left.”
Speaking to the Herald, NSW Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said it is the “largest mass relocation of people out of the region that we’ve ever seen. We need people to listen, respond, and get out.”
RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers highlighted the importance of getting tourists out of the area before Saturday. “We have so many fires still burning down there… and quite close to communities as well,” he said.
“We won’t get containment on those fires before Saturday.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the crisis was likely to last for months. “It [fires] will continue to go on until we can get some decent rain that can deal with some of the fires that have been burning for many, many months,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Thursday.
