SYDNEY: Thousands of holidaymakers and locals were bedding down at beaches in fire-ravaged southeast Australia on New Year's Eve after fleeing deadly blazes that ripped through popular tourist areas and cut off several towns.
In seaside communities along a 200-km strip of coast, terrified crowds -- wrapped in blankets and wearing make-shift facemasks -- sought refuge from the inferno near the water.
"We've got literally hundreds, thousands of people up and down the coast, taking refuge on the beaches" and in surf clubs, said Shane Fitzsimmons, commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. "I understand there was a public cheer down at the jetty when that was announced," said Steve Warrington of the Country Fire Authority.
Hundreds of"anxious and stressed and traumatised" people were gathered at Bega's showgrounds, said 44-year-old Beck Walker, who had been holidaying with her husband and two young sons when they heard sirens warning them to evacuate before dawn. The military is expected to conduct damage assessments and potentially provide those displaced with food, shelter and electricity and even evacuation.Australia's unprecedented bushfires have been burning for months, but the latest in a series of heatwaves and high winds have wrought new devastation.On Monday, around 100,000 people were urged to flee five Melbourne suburbs as the blaze bore down on homes just 16km from the centre of Australia's second-biggest city.
A 63-year-old man and his 29-year-old son died in the devastated town of Cobargo in the latest spasm of destruction Tuesday.The blazes have destroyed more than 1,000 homes and scorched about 5.5 million hectares -- an area bigger than Denmark or the Netherlands.
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