After a few days of cooler weather and rain, Australian authorities fear that the devastating natural fires will flare up again. Temperatures are expected to rise again in the coming days, accompanied by strong winds.
While the state of New South Wales is already preparing itself for heavy fires, the Australian capital Canberra was already covered in smoke on Tuesday morning.
The fire brigade calls on people to protect their houses from the fires, for example by removing flammable plants or checking for holes in roofs, to prevent flammable particles from entering houses.
At Canberra, firefighters and other security personnel visited the doors to warn people of possible evacuations.
A heavy fire is raging near the capital in the Namagdi National Park. Authorities fear that this fire will spread further when the temperatures can rise to 35 degrees on Tuesday.
The wildfires have been raging since August. Meanwhile, 33 people have died in the fires and possibly a billion animals have died. An area the size of Greece has gone up in flames.
The state of Queensland is struggling with flooding
While southeastern Australia is struggling with flames, the northeastern state of Queensland faces heavy rain flooding.
Up to 160 millimeters of rain fell in parts of Queensland in 24 hours. The rainfall would be around a quarter of the average rainfall in a year, the news agency reports Reuters. More rain is expected in the coming days.
Heavy damage has not yet been reported due to rain and floods. People have been saved from the water and several roads have been closed.
Halfway January thunderstorms and heavy rain passed over Australia. Although this led to a reduction in forest fires, authorities also feared other problems.
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