Kempsey is just over 400km (249 miles) north of Sydney, and has suffered under extreme conditions in recent weeks. Some 300 homes have been destroyed in NSW alone in recent days as flames stretched from the state’s north coast to suburban Sydney. While conditions across Australia’s east have eased, temperatures across the country’s west coast are forecast to soar on Thursday. Authorities said on Thursday they were monitoring a fire on the outskirts of Karratha, a major gas-processing hub on Australia’s west coast. The fires have sparked increasingly acrimonious debate over climate and fire-prevention policies, with the ruling conservative Liberal Party and the minor opposition Australian Greens exchanging barbs.

Source: Dhaka Tribune November 14, 2019 05:06 UTC