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Australian bushfires still a threat

Still a threat: fire and thick smoke remains the village of Nerrigundah, Australia, on December 31, 2019 (Photograph by Siobhan Threlfall/AP)

Two former Bermuda residents said fires near their home in Australia have died down, but the threat from massive bush- fires was not over.

Anne Wilson added that she and husband, Bob Wilson, a former editor of the Mid-Ocean News, were still prepared to evacuate even as the conditions near their home in Oberon, New South Wales, improved.

Ms Wilson said: “Our nearest fires, 20 kilometres, away are well under control, but the fire season has some months to go.

“Australian weather never ceases to challenge. Today our homestead is being torn by wild winds and is encompassed by a massive dust storm from the west.

“Our bags, boxes and pet cages, and those of our neighbours and folk across many states, remain packed for fast departures.”

Australia has battled a bushfire crisis which has now killed at least 33 people since September.

More than ten million hectares, an area almost the size of England, have been destroyed by fire, with New South Wales and Victoria the most affected.

Recent rain brought relief to some areas of the country, but more than 80 fires in New South Wales were still ablaze yesterday.