Wildfires have burned nearly 20 million acres of land across Australia.
According to a tweet published by the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, in terms of coverage, the amount of land burned in Australia is equivalent to more than 90 percent of the area served by the Ohio-based forecast office. That would include anywhere from Celina into northern Kentucky from north to south, and Richmond, Indiana, to past Columbus from west to east.
Did you know that the NWS has been sending Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) to Australia to help forecast wx conditions for the ongoing wildfires? The situation remains quite dire as about 20,000 sq. miles of land have already burned, which is approx. the size of our entire CWA. pic.twitter.com/wV6VAPnpEj
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) January 6, 2020
The latest death toll has reached 25, while the number of animals killed is estimated to be around a half a billion. That includes one-third of the Koala population and their habitat.
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Emergency personnel are working hard to get people to safety with many having to be evacuated by boat, as firefighters continue to battle the intense flames. Firefighters from the United States also are there to provide assistance.
It may not be much, but some rain and lower temperatures are bringing a bit of relief to areas devastated by the brush fires. The reality is, this is summer for Australia and is fire season for the country. It’s likely these fires will continue to spread.
