Two more people are missing in remote parts of New South Wales state as rain and cooler temperatures bring some relief to Australia amid devastating wildfires that have killed 24 people and destroyed some 2,000 homes.
Blackened trees poke through the scorched ground after a wildfire ripped through near Kangaroo Valley, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. The deadly wildfires, which have been raging since September, have already burned about 5 million hectares of land and destroyed more than 1,500 homes.
The wildfires have so far scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland. They have killed at least 24 people and destroyed about 2,000 homes. “With the more benign weather conditions it presents some wonderful relief for everybody, the firefighters, the emergency services personnel, but also the communities affected by these fires,” Shane Fitzsimmons, the Commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, told reporters. “But it also presents some real challenges when it comes to implementing tactical and strategic back-burns and other techniques to try and bring these fires under control.
But the moves did little to tamp down the criticism that he had been slow to act, even as he has downplayed the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes. Morrison, chided for past remarks minimizing the need to address climate change, has deflected criticism while trying to change his tone.
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