The air quality in Melbourne deteriorated to the 'worst in the world' on Tuesday due to the smoke from the massive bushfires
Animal rescue workers check an injured Koala. Pic /AFP
Melbourne: Thunderstorms and rain across parts of bushfire-devastated eastern Australia brought some relief to the harried people and firefighters but posed a new challenge of flash floods. The raging Australian bushfires, one of the worst in its history, burned over 10 million hectares of land, destroyed over 2,000 homes and pushed many species towards extinction, apart from claiming the lives of 28 people.
ADVERTISEMENT
The air quality in Melbourne deteriorated to the 'worst in the world' on Tuesday due to the smoke from the massive bushfires. While 16 fires are still burning across Australia's Victoria state, thunderstorms on Wednesday night brought some relief from the dense smoke haze. In the state of New South Wales, where many of the worst fires have burnt, there were 'good falls' on some blazes early Thursday, the local meteorology bureau reported.
"Relief is here for a number of firefighters working across NSW," the state's Rural Fire Service said. Change in cooler weather conditions that hit the state came with new warnings for flash flooding and dumping hailstones. The rain is offering some relief for fire crews battling blazes, but there are concerns the wet weather could cause landslides, flash flooding and contaminated water, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
150mm
Rain needed according to authorities to extinguish the blazes
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
