Bushfires Near Sydney Likely Worst In NSW In Past 10 Years - At Least 100s Of Homes Gone

[hatrack]

Severe fires erupted Thursday across areas surrounding Sydney, Australia, in what some officials are saying may be the most serious bushfire emergency to threaten the New South Wales region in a decade.

"These conditions are not going to be over quickly," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Premier Barry O'Farrell said at an evening press conference, local time. "I suspect if we get through that without the loss of life we should all thank God for miracles."

Thirty-six fires remain uncontained across the Sydney region as more than 90 fires engulfed homes and caused widespread destruction.

The magnitude of this blaze surpasses any bushfire that's swept through NSW in a decade, said Rob Rogers, the RFS's deputy commissioner. Home destruction from the flames is expected to "at least be in the hundreds."

EDIT

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/17/australia-sydney-bushfires/2999269/

[truebrit71]

1. Yes, by all means thank god if no-one dies...

...personally i'd prefer a god that wouldn't allow human lives to be threatened in the first place, but hey...that's just me....

Back on point, I am sure the new climate-change denying PM is all over this...

[hatrack]

2. Yes, all ready to eliminate the carbon tax - and Rio Tinto is oh so happy about that . . .