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A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 8 January 2020
Australian crews race to contain blazes as damage bill soars
Associated Press up protection to limit the
BALMORAL, Australia (AP) damage potential and the
— Bolstered by cooler outbreak of these fires over
weather and desperately the coming days," he told
needed rain, exhausted the Australian Broadcast-
firefighters in Australia ing Corp.
raced to shore up defenses The rain was not heavy
against deadly wildfires be- enough to extinguish the
fore the blazes flare again blazes. Victoria state Emer-
within days when scorching gency Services Minister Lisa
temperatures are expect- Neville said on Monday
ed to return. at least 200 millimeters (8
The first hints of the financial inches) of rain would need
toll from the disaster began to fall in a short time to snuff
to emerge on Tuesday. The out the fires — around 20
Insurance Council of Aus- times what has fallen across
tralia said the estimated the region in the past day.
damage bill had doubled And officials warned that
in two days, with insurance Australia's wildfire season
claims reaching 700 million New South Wales Rural Fire Service crew watch as the casket of NSW RFS volunteer Andrew — which generally lasts
Australian dollars ($485 mil- O'Dwyer arrives for his funeral service at Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church in Horsley Park, through March — was no-
lion). Sydney, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. where near its end.
That estimate comes one Associated Press The rain was also compli-
day after Prime Minister cating firefighters' attempts
Scott Morrison said the gov- an extra 2 billion Australian the recovery effort in addi- dollars that have already to strategically backburn
ernment was committing dollars ($1.4 billion) toward tion to the tens of millions of been promised. Morrison's certain areas, and was
funding announcement making the ground slippery
came amid fierce criticism for fire trucks.
from many Australians who Anxious, weary and frus-
say he has been too slow trated after living through
to respond to the crisis. He months of fires already,
has also faced backlash for many Australians have
downplaying the need for focused their fury on the
his government to address prime minister, whose re-
climate change, which sponse to the crisis has
experts say helps super- been roundly criticized as
charge the blazes. lax, and at times, dismissive.
The fires, fueled by drought Morrison faced particularly
and the country's hottest fierce backlash for taking a
and driest year on record, family vacation to Hawaii in
have been raging since the midst of the disaster.
September, months earlier Helena Wong and her
than is typical for Austra- partner Justin Kam, who
lia's annual wildfire season. lost their home when fires
So far, the blazes have swept through the town of
killed 25 people, destroyed Balmoral south of Sydney
2,000 homes and scorched last month, were frustrat-
an area twice the size of ed with what they say has
the U.S. state of Maryland. been a slow, uncoordinat-
Three people in New South ed response to the fires and
Wales state who were re- a lack of preparedness by
ported missing earlier Tues- the government.
day were later found, po- "Disaster plans should have
lice said. been put in place ahead
Across New South Wales, of time, not after the fact
130 fires were still burning when everybody's in a
on Tuesday, around 50 of state of emergency and
which were uncontrolled. everybody's scrambling,"
The day's cooler, rainier Wong said. "Communica-
weather was providing tion could be better. We
thousands of weary fire- are told different things by
fighters a "psychological different people. ... We are
and emotional" reprieve a fire-prone country. Things
as they scrambled to should have been put in
strengthen containment place."
lines around the blazes Thousands of army, navy
before temperatures rise and air force reservists were
again, said Shane Fitzsim- being dispatched to battle
mons, commissioner of the the fires. On Tuesday, res-
New South Wales Rural Fire cue crews were still trying
Service. to reach some affected
"It really is about shoring communities. q
