Mass evacuations urged as wildfires threaten Victoria

Bloomberg

Tens of thousands of holiday-makers and residents are being urged to evacuate a popular tourist spot in southeast Australia as a heatwave sweeping through the region threatens to escalate wildfires.
In a televised appeal on Sunday, Victoria state’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp called on about 30,000 people vacationing around Lakes Entrance in the East Gippsland region to leave immediately. “We want you to get out now,” Crisp said. “It is important that you now think very very seriously about leaving.”
The area, about four hours drive east of the state capital Melbourne, is already threatened by three major blazes, while soaring temperatures, wind and lightning could see more fires break out Monday and close the main highway in and out of the region.
It’s the latest development in the wildfire crisis that’s left at least nine people dead in Australia since blazes broke out months ago during the southern hemisphere winter amid a prolonged drought gripping parts of the country. The fires, which are affecting several states, have triggered an emotive debate about the impact of global warming in the world’s driest-inhabited continent.
With a state of emergency declared in New South Wales state, and toxic smoke shrouding Sydney for several days this month, the spotlight has been turned on Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative government, which champions the coal industry and has dismissed calls to take more steps to curb emissions.
A severe heatwave is spreading across the country, with temperatures forecast to reach 41 degrees Celsius on Monday in Lakes Entrance — a coastal town with pristine beaches and a large system of inland waterways.