"Millions
of dollars damage" in Victorian hailstormTop
temperature records fall in NSW as widespread fires break outHeat
kills five in Brisbane
Rough
seas in Bass Strait |
| Radar at 3.20am shows the storm heading for the Gippsland Lakes area. Other storms are developing along the sloping troughline. |
Widespread bushfires broke out across eastern NSW today as temperatures along the coast from the Illawarra northwards into SE Qld soared to 8 to 14° above normal. Yamba, on the coast east of Grafton, recorded a top of 39.9 late afternoon as hot northwesterlies broke through the seabreeze which had kept temperatures there in the mid-20s until after 3pm. The recording was the station's highest December maximum in 44 years of computerised records, and 14° above normal. Farther north, Alstonville, east of Lismore, also broke its December maximum temperature record. Sydney, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour all recorded maxima 11 to 13° above normal. Evans Head, 30km north of Yamba, recorded a top of 41° around 3pm, then another maximum of 44.6 just before 8pm, though the latter is thought to have been caused by bushfires moving close to the automatic station.
With a total fire ban in force across most of NSW, bushfires were reported from many areas keeping over 2,000 firefighters busy:
- In the lower Blue Mountains around Springwood and Blaxland (5 fires). Helicopters dumped fire retardant on four out-of-control fires. The largest blaze, at Lapstone, cut both the Great Western Highway and the main western railway line. Several bushwalkers had to be rescued.
- at Two Mile west of Gulgong and Hargreaves Road near Mudgee.
- in the Shoalhaven near Nowra
- around Cessnock in the Hunter Valley (4 fires).
- in the Richmond Valley and NW of Yamba (3 fires). The fire at Tabbimobile, north of Grafton, closed one lane of the Pacific Highway.
- near Kempsey (3 fires). At Arakoon, near South West Rocks, an aboriginal settlement and a caravan park were evacuated with about 200 people moved to safety.
- between Oberon and Marulan (5 fires)
- near the Hawkesbury River (2 fires).
- Bushfires continued in the Goobang National Park area near Yeovil.
In the ACT, a fire which began early afternoon on the Huntley Estate west of Canberra and quickly spread to much of the Mt Stromlo forest, threatened the Governor General's residence and caused evacuations of some houses in neighbouring Yarralumla. Wind gusts, recorded up to 112km/h at the Mt Tennent fire tower in Tuggeranong, made the fire uncontrollable late afternoon but it was largely contained by mid evening. Fires flared up in northern, western and central suburbs of the city, and at least one house was burnt down.
Top temperatures of 39 in Brisbane and 41 at Amberley in the city's west claimed the lives of five elderly people today. The hot dry conditions kept ambulance officers busy with many cases of dehydration and heat exhaustion. The five died of heat-induced heart attacks.
Forecast rough seas in Bass Strait caused the cancellation of the afternoon Devil Cat sailing from Georgetown Tas to Melbourne. The wind strengthened to gale force during the evening as a vigorous front crossed, with Launceston Airport reporting a gust of 98km/h and Devonport Airport and Eddystone Point Light House gusts of 93km/h.