Bushfire
crisis continues in NSW
Heatwave
contracts to Queensland
Storm,
complete with waterspout, forces retirements in Sydney-Hobart yacht raceWintry
weather continues in Tas, southern Vic- Firefighters' main concern was a band of fire running from Campbelltown east to the coast. It was this firefront that caused damage to the Warragamba/Silverdale area yesterday as it sped 60km in 6 hours from the lower Blue Mountains to near the coast around Helensburgh, leaving a swathe of smouldering country in its wake. The danger was that a 90° windshift could turn it this into a 60km fire front. However, light easterly winds near the coast eased conditions around Sutherland, south of Sydney, but fluctuating strong winds farther south made containment of a major 15km front from Appin in the west to Yallala Falls in the Royal National Park in the east impossible. The front jumped the Princes Highway between Heathcote and Waterfall and entered the park soon after midday. During the evening, a planned back-burn within the RNP to protect the park and nearby suburbs had to be cancelled when winds changed from westerly to southerly, driving fire towards the outskirts of Heathcote where six streets were evacuated.
- Royal National Park authorities feared a major ecological disaster today as around 80% of the park was consumed by flames. It is the park's third major bushfire in 8 years. About 95% of the park was destroyed in January 1994 and it also suffered damage in the 1997 fires. About 100 species had regenerated strongly after 1994 but others had not and needed more time. Surveys revealed that scores of species disappeared altogether.
- Across the state, it was estimated that 100,000ha of national park had been burnt by late today.
- During the afternoon, a fire front on top of Mt Kembla, behind Wollongong, threatened to move down the mountain into suburban areas and a major evacuation was planned. However, cooler conditions and easing winds made the fire conditions more manageable.
- In the Warragamba/Silverdale area southwest of Sydney, hundreds of residents were evacuated from small hamlets in the area today.
- Fire fronts continued to cause problems in the lower Blue Mountains around Springwood, Blaxland and Mt Riverview where four properties were destroyed today. Evacuations occurred in Blaxland. Winds, though not as strong as yesterday, continued to fan the flames, and turned from WNW to WSW. The lower Mountains fire front spotted across the Nepean River during the afternoon raising fears for the safety of isolated properties and hamlets in the Baulkham Hills area northwest of Sydney, where a state of emergency was declared late afternoon as the fire entered the Castlereagh State Forest. Conditions, however, eased during the evening.
- By late morning, fire authorities were estimating that more than 80 properties had been destroyed in the Greater Sydney area, 14 in the Hawkesbury and 20 in the Shoalhaven. No lives have been lost. In the 1994 fires, 185 properties were destroyed around Sydney and four lives lost. John Winter, from the NSW Rural Fire Service, said that the figures were "certainly beginning to be on par with '94. The key difference is so far we haven't had any loss of life. Given the sheer intensity of the fires, that's absolutely extraordinary."
- Power to 12,000 homes south and southwest of Sydney and around the Illawarra remained cut. Helensburgh, Otford and Stanwell Tops were expected to be without power for 3 or 4 days, creating water and sewage problems, and evacuated residents were warned not to return to their homes.
- Many roads remained or became blocked by fire. They included the Princes Highway at Loftus, just south of Sutherland, and the F6 from Heathcote to Mt Ousley. The only road open into Wollongong from Sydney was the Mt Keira road. Many roads in outer southwestern to northwestern Sydney around Mulgoa, Wallacia, St Clair, Cranebrook, Castlereagh and Blaxland's Ridge were shut. To the north, the Putty Road was closed between Windsor and Singleton, Peats Ridge Road was blocked at Somersby and the Pacific Highway north of Maclean. In the south, Princes Highway remained blocked north of the Jervis Bay turnoff, and in the central west the Gulgong to Goolma Road was closed.
- All trains on the Illawarra line from Sydney were terminating at Sutherland.
- Fires were contained around Canberra in the ACT today as winds eased. More than 1000ha is estimated to have been burnt out in the past two days.
- Fire authorities believed that arsonists were the cause of the majority of the fires.
- The NSW Government declared parts of Sydney's west and south, the Central Coast, Illawarra, the North Coast, Central West and the Hunter as natural disaster areas. The government is setting up a community disaster relief fund which it is kick-starting with a $1m donation. The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, visited Warragamba and Silverdale today and praised the work of volunteer firefighters.
- NSW Fire Authorities called on help from Navy personnel and 200 Victorian firefighters.
Heatwave conditions contracted into southeastern Queensland today, with two locations, Gympie and Town of 1770, reporting their hottest days on record, and Baralaba breaking the December temperature record set only yesterday. Details are below.
 |
| Radar image of the storm at 7.30pm off the coast near Ulladulla. The "rain" echoes around Sydney are echoes from moisture and debris in bushfire smoke clouds. |
 |
| The waterspout, as aired on ABC TV. |
Competitors in the 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race had a quick introduction to the wild weather for which the race is renown when they sailed into a major storm only six hours after the start. Seven competitors were forced to retire, two through being dismasted by strong winds. The storm was accompanied by a dramatic waterspout, which passed close to last year's race winner Nicorette.
Wintry weather continued across Tasmania and Victoria today, with temperatures up to 16° below normal, heavy rain on Tasmania's west coast and strong to gale force winds. In Victoria, Mt Hotham's 3pm temperature was -1.3 and the maximum for the day was +0.4, 16 below normal. Automatic weather station reports from the Victorian Alps and Mt Wellington in Tasmania suggest that light snow fell during the day, while atop Mt Read, behind Zeehan on Tasmania's West Coast, much of the 57mm that fell in the 27 hours to midday would have fallen as solid precipitation, with the temperature hovering between 0 and 1° for much of the time.