Southeast Australia’s recent extreme weather conditions—record-setting heat and powerful winds—have spawned more than 100 bushfires. These fires recently drove thousands of tourists and locals, cut off from overland escape routes, to seek shelter on nearby beaches. Heavy smoke has reddened skies across Australia’s two most populous states, as hundreds of firefighters battle the blazes. Below, a recent look at the nightmarish conditions across the region.
Photos of Australia’s Raging Bushfires
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Read moreThe main street of the New South Wales town of Bombala is pictured shrouded in smoke from nearby bushfires on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA New South Wales Rural Fire Service firefighter douses embers near the town of Sussex Inlet, Australia, on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreEmbers from bushfires are fanned by strong winds in the area around the town of Nowra, in New South Wales, on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreResidents watch the developing conditions and darkening sky near the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreChildren play on the showground in the southern New South Wales town of Bega where they are camping after being evacuated from nearby sites affected by bushfires on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreResident Peter Nicol watches a bushfire in the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreThe remains of burned buildings are seen along the main street of the New South Wales town of Cobargo on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA tree burns near the town of Nowra on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA New South Wales police officer prepares to flee his roadblock on the Princes Highway near the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA Rural Fire Service helicopter lands on the Princes Highway near the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA koala receives water from a cyclist during a severe heatwave that hit the region, in Adelaide Hills, South Australia, on December 27, 2019. #
Instagram user @BIKEBUG2019 via Reuters -
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Read moreWildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services (WIRES) volunteer and carer Tracy Dodd holds a kangaroo with burned feet pads, after it was rescued from bushfires in Australia's Blue Mountains area, on December 30, 2019. #
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Read moreTrees burn near the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreWildfires burn in East Gippsland, Victoria state, Australia, on December 30, 2019. #
State Government of Victoria via AP -
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Read moreKangaroos gather on a residential lawn as bushfires continue to spread in Berrara Beach, Australia, on December 21, 2019. #
Linda Robinson via Reuters -
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Read moreA tree burns from bushfires near the devastated New South Wales town of Cobargo on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreA firefighting helicopter flies over the remains of the Tutti Fruitti cafe, which was destroyed by bushfires in the town of Bilpin on December 29, 2019. #
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Read moreThe remains of burned buildings are seen in the town of Cobargo on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreRural Fire Service firefighters conduct property protection near the town of Sussex Inlet on December 31, 2019. #
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Read moreSmoke and flames rise from burning trees as bushfires hit the area around the town of Nowra on December 31, 2019. #
Saeed Khan / AFP / Getty
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