3 missing amid bushfires and ‘catastrophic’ conditions in Australia

Three people are missing as out-of-control bushfires rage in the Australian state of Victoria, destroying homes and burning large swathes of bushland, authorities said Friday.

Damaging winds and temperatures of up to 46C were forecast for northern Victoria.

Victorian Premier Jacinda Allen said it was “one of the most dangerous fire days this state has seen in years”.

A fire near the town of Longwood has ravaged more than 35,000 hectares of bushland, while a fire near Walwa has spread to around 20,000 hectares.

Both began on Wednesday amid an intense summer heatwave in South Australia.

Meteorologists said the conditions are comparable to those in 2019, when bushfires destroyed large swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, during what became known as the Black Summer.

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On the front lines of Australia’s unprecedented wildfire crisis, Black Summer tells the stories of those trapped in the worst wildfire season in history. The videos stunned the world – footage capturing the ferocity of the wildfires – but who filmed them and how did their stories end?

An analysis published Tuesday by Climate Central shows that human-caused climate change has made heat at least two to five times more likely in many parts of Australia.

A “catastrophic” fire risk

Friday’s fire danger level was set to “catastrophic,” the highest level, and the Longwood and Walwa fires pose a real risk of loss of life and property, authorities said.

The Walwa fire created its own weather system, with a pyrocumulonimbus cloud causing lightning and thunder.

Premier Allen said this made existing fire conditions more extreme “with the fires themselves creating additional weather conditions, lightning sparking new fires in a number of locations across the state and also with strong winds and stronger winds forecast throughout the day”.

Residents of dozens of nearby towns were ordered to evacuate.

Some 450 schools in Victoria were closed on Friday and many regional rail services were cancelled.

A total fire ban was imposed across the state Friday.

In New Zealand, the country’s weather provider MetService also warned of record temperatures over the weekend as the heatwave sweeps across the Tasman Sea.

It issued heat alerts for parts of New Zealand’s east coast and the northern South Island.