66 dead, 700 homes lost in fire horror

[Sonnabend]

http://www.news.com.au/


http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6476951,00.jpg (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25023335-1243,00.html) Affected towns resemble bomb sites. Picture: Norm Oorlorf. Fire hotline: 1800 240 667

66 dead, 700 homes lost in fire horror (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25023335-1243,00.html)

(http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25023335-1243,00.html) THE official death toll from Victoria's worst ever bushfire disaster grows as authorities move through affected towns, some of which have been nearly wiped off the map.
148 comments on this story (http://www.news.com.au/comments/0,23600,25023335-2,00.html)



Victim: Husband 'just told me to go' (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25024207-421,00.html)
Rudd: 'Hell in all its fury has visited' (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25024171-1243,00.html)
Miracle: Town razed 'but all safe' (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25024427-2,00.html)
Pictures: Victoria's killer fires (http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,22010,5037339-5006020,00.html)
Messages: Offer help, support (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/indepth/section/0,,5018720,00.html)
On the net: Bushfires on Twitter (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23bushfires)

[cat714]

This is terrible. :( How far are you from all of this???

California is no stranger to wildfires and we get some serious infernos out here, but 66+ deaths is unheard of...unless you go way back in our history. What's it like in these areas? I read the part where it mentioned six bodies found in a car and they suspect these people where trying to flee.

[Sonnabend]

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,6476344,00.jpg

[Sonnabend]

Death toll now 84 :(

[AHeneen]

The death toll is now up to 84. Adding plenty of irony, about 1500 miles to the north of Victoria, in Queensland, there has been nearly a week of torrential downpours...some cities have had days with 8-10in of rain in 24 hours.

More rain forecast for Australia's wet north
<snip>
The Herbert River in Ingham dropped by 3.3 feet (one meter) in the last 24 hours but could return to its Monday peak of 40 feet (12.2 meters) if the low pressure storm system off the coast dumps the expected 11.8 inches (300 millimeters) on the town this weekend.
While overflowing rivers and heavy rainstorms are normal during northern Australia's November-to-April tropical cyclone season, the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted above-normal monsoonal activity this season.
The government said that storms since late December have caused an estimated AU$109 million Australian dollars in damage.
More than 60 percent of Queensland is under water — 400,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers), or twice the area of Spain. Ingham has been hardest hit, with 2,900 homes damaged or flooded in a weekend storm and hundreds of people evacuated.
<snip>
In stark contrast to the wet weather in the north, the south remains hot and dry. Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney have all sweltered through record-breaking heat waves in recent weeks, and weekend forecasts show temperatures reaching 97 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (36 to 46 degrees Celsius) in those state capitals.
Link (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5isWFUPTH3DABmCBX9mCeoksRYAZQD965RVGO0)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/3263410795_728d3b5960.jpg
The Burdekin Falls Dam spills over.

[Sonnabend]

Ahaneen can you please crop that pic..way too wide. Ta.:)

[MrsSmith]

I know an established grass fire can travel awfully fast, I'm guessing these fires were moving too fast to get everyone out? So horrible. :(:(