A faint rain in fire-affected areas in south-east Australia gave firefighters and fire-affected communities on Monday (06.01.2020) before temperatures return to r 40 degrees by the end of the week.
The Australian Meteorological Office said the day will be dominated by cloud cover and some rain in southern New South Wales, the area hardest hit by the fires, as well as in Victoria.
Meanwhile, the head of The New South Wales Executive Gadlys Berijiklian reported that two people are missing after a weekend in which the flames caused a dead man and destroyed at least 60 houses, although it is feared that the figure is hundreds.
In the state of Victoria, where four are missing, authorities are trying to control the fires and assess the damage, while the operation continues to evacuate some of the 3,000 people who were encircled in Mallacoota, in the far southeast of Australia.
In seaside towns on the East Coast the sky turned black and ash rained, and big cities like Melbourne drowned under a cloud of smoke, meanwhile the capital Camberra, affected by poor visibility and poor air quality has been forced to close kindergartens.
On Monday, the Australian government said it was willing to pay “whatever it takes” to help communities recover and announced an additional 2 billion Australian dollars ($1.4 billion) towards the recovery effort.
For their part, celebrities such as tennis player Ashleigh Barty, singer Pink, and actresses Nicole Kidman and Celeste Barber mobilized by collecting funds or donations for firefighters and fire victims.
