SYDNEY: Australian authorities urged people to remain alert on Monday as wildfires that have destroyed homes, killed cattle and forced hundreds of residents to flee continued to burn out of control in the southeast of the country. No deaths or serious injuries were reported as of Monday morning, but the bushfires have caused extensive damage in rural Victoria and New South Wales states. Emergency officials said conditions should ease on Monday but “watch and act” warnings remained in place for five locations. In the northern city of Darwin, about 25,000 homes were also without power after a tropical cyclone felled trees. In January, hundreds of holidaymakers had to be evacuated by boat from the beaches of the Royal National Park south of Sydney, when they became trapped by bushfires.

Source: New Strait Times March 18, 2018 19:52 UTC