Rosie Perper/Business Insider
- Australia is currently experiencing what is likely its worst bushfire season in history, but I never thought I'd be trapped in it.
- I am based in Melbourne, Australia, but over New Year's some friends and I decided to go travel towards a popular strip of beach towns on the South Coast of New South Wales.
- But during my vacation, much of the region came under threat of bushfires that spread quickly and moved in unpredictable ways. We were evacuated to the beach town of Narooma and were left without power, cell service, and limited emergency supplies.
- I spent my New Year's Eve in an evacuation shelter alongside thousands of other residents and tourists as bushfires roared all around us. Here's how it happened.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
I spent my New Year's Eve in an evacuation shelter along the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, stranded alongside thousands of other residents and tourists as bushfires roared all around us.
It was certainly not how I envisioned ringing in the new decade when I excitedly booked these travel plans with four friends months ago.
Before the trip even began, we revised our vacation plan several times, copping losses for Airbnb's and campsites that were already paid for but were located in areas suddenly under threat of bushfires in the weeks leading up to our trip.
We were careful — to some of my Australian friends, overly so — in crafting our trip. We took every precaution, downloaded every app to keep tabs on bushfire warnings, and shrunk the length of our trip in order to mitigate the danger. We are five smart, young women, travel-savvy and familiar with the areas we were traveling to.
My friends and I are based in Melbourne in the state of Victoria. We decided to drive from Melbourne up the South Coast of the neighboring state of New South Wales, which has seen a tourism boost in recent years thanks to new developments and pristine national parks and beaches. When we left on December 27 bushfires were devastating Sydney and its surroundings. We thought it best to avoid those areas completely.
The first few days of our trip were perfect and featured clear skies and beautiful coastal breezes. We were among the 12.1 million domestic and international travelers who visit the region each year.
The last days of our trip played out like an apocalyptic nightmare, with angry red skies raining hot ash and smoke so dense you could taste it.
We started off our trip in Eden, New South Wales.
Rosie Perper/Business Insider
This photo was taken on December 27. The skies were blue and the air was fresh.
There were no signs of danger. Our apps told us that bushfires were far away and would not impact our plans.
But bushfires are sometimes unpredictable. And weather conditions can change the course of fires quickly.
Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria
The current bushfire season in New South Wales, which began in October 2019, is the worst in recorded Australian history.
Weather conditions have been increasingly hot and dry in some areas, breaking heat records which exacerbate fire conditions.
Bushfires have now also become so big that they are generating their own weather through pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which create their own thunderstorms that can start more fires.
We drove from Eden to nearby Narooma, New South Wales, where we planned to camp for three nights. On December 30, at around 5:00 p.m. local time, ominous signs were posted around the campsite.
Rosie Perper/Business Insider
We got back to the campsite and saw the signs at around 8 p.m. local time. At that point, it was already starting to get dark and we thought it safest to evacuate first thing in the morning.
We set our alarms for 5 a.m. and planned to drive straight back down to Melbourne. We went to sleep nervous but firm in our plans.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Terrifying video shows a 'fire tornado' ripping through the Australian countryside as devastating fires ravage the country
- An Australian zookeeper took home monkeys, pandas, and a tiger in order to keep them safe from bushfires
- Terrifying video shows the moment a rescue crew in Australia were overrun by bushfires and were forced to seek shelter in their truck
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/2SR6jsN
No comments:
Post a Comment