The Australians are pleased with the heavy rainfall of the past days. At least twenty large fires from forest fires have been extinguished as a result, but there are now warnings of floods and landslides.

 

In recent months you have been able to ignore it: large forest fires have caused significant damage, refugee flows and the deaths of many exceptional animals just about everywhere in Australia. Despite the massive deployment of firefighters and soldiers, those fires were not under control.

As a result, at least 20 of the 60 major forest fires in New South Wales (the state including Sydney) would have been extinguished.

Also in the neighbouring state of Victoria, the number of fireplaces has fallen to 20, the lowest number in weeks. Since September, 11.7 million hectares of wilderness have been destroyed and 33 people were killed in those forest fires.

The exhausted firefighters are enthusiastic, but weather experts warn. The soil has dried out and does not absorb much water. This means that there is a risk of flooding and landslides.

On Saturday, Hurricane Damien would rage across western Australia. A number of ports and airports are closed and gusts of wind up to 230 kilometres per hour are expected.

However, British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who is visiting Australia, remains positive: “We have brought the rain,” he scornfully said.