Australians Continue to Battle Fires and Floods
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australians Continue to Battle Fires and Floods*
By ROD McGUIRK
The Associated Press
Monday, January 7, 2008; 2:42 AM
CANBERRA, Australia -- Australians battled both fires and some of the
worst flooding in decades Monday that stranded residents in several
communities after days of intense summer heat and storms.
Bureau of Meteorology hydrologist Gordon McKay said some parts of New
South Wales, Australia's most populous state, had experienced their
worst floods in more than 50 years after a week of rain.
Those trapped included 1,000 music fans attending a four-day music
festival in the state, officials said.
Flood waters also isolated several communities in Queensland and the
Northern Territory, which was lashed by a cyclone over the weekend,
emergency services reported.
The major highway from the east to the west coast city of Perth remained
closed Monday because of a blaze that remained out of control, eight
days after three truck drivers died in an attempt to drive through a
wall of fire.
Federal lawmaker Barry Haase, whose 890,000-square mile Outback
electorate is described as the largest in the world, called for the
Great Eastern Highway to be reopened despite the danger so interstate
trade could resume.
But state official Peter Keppel said the fire, which has burned 101,300
acres of scrubland since it started Dec. 28, remained dangerous.
With temperatures expected to reach 104 degrees Monday and northerly
winds forecast, the fire could again cross the highway, he said.
In southeast Australia, water-dropping aircraft were used Monday to
attack a 25-acre fire in steep terrain in a national park in Victoria state.
North of Victoria in New South Wales state, thousands of people could
remain cut off by floods for up to a week, State Emergency Service
spokesman Phil Campbell said.
About 1,000 music fans attending the music festival near Tenterfield
would remain trapped by a washed-away bridge until Tuesday, Campbell said.
Further north in Queensland state, flood waters were receding from
weekend peaks.
Emergency volunteers were being airlifted to Queensland farms isolated
by floods to deliver supplies to stranded residents, the State Emergency
Service reported.