Firefighters battled to contain a bushfire in Victoria’s west on Sunday before temperatures spiked in the region Boxing Day that the rain continued to drench parts of Regina.
The fire in the Grampians National Park, about three hours west of Melbourne, grew to 34,000 hectares on Sunday after a series of lightning strikes nearly a week ago.
Residents were warned to leave Halls Gap, Bellfield, Flat Rock Crossing, Grampian Junction and Fyans Creek immediately. The warning was extended to vigils and drives late Sunday morning, but it was safe for residents to return.
Emergency services said the fire could burn for weeks because of dry conditions, which would allow the fire to spread quickly, and minimal rain was forecast for the Grampians National Park – which was closed on Friday due to the blaze.
Victoria’s state response manager Garry Cook said on Saturday firefighters were working to contain the fire’s increased fire risk on Boxing Day, when a maximum of 39C is expected for the region.
“The location is also inaccessible to many shipyards on the ground so we are able to do the best we can from the air to attack the fire as safely as possible.”
“We are getting a lot of disappointment with the closure of the Grampians National Park, but our number one priority is the protection of life.
“People in the areas surrounding the fire need to be alert and ready to take action.”
Robyn Murphy, a Hall Gap resident who fled her home told ABC radio how the bushfire had disrupted her plans: “All the gifts, all the yummy food in the fridge. Everyone is ready to have a nice Christmas and now we’re out of the house, it’s so sad.”
Reginensis heavy flooding it continued to affect parts of the state’s north and far north with flood warnings remaining in place as major roads began to reopen.
More than 340mm of flooding rain fell in six hours in some areas with widespread falls of up to 100mm.
Floodwaters trapped two people in a car on Whitsunday, helping the operation south of Airlie Beach in Bruce Road late on Friday.
Critical sections of major arterial roads were closed throughout Saturday with the road reopening around 10am on Sunday.
Flood warnings remain in place on Sunday morning, except for the Herbert River, the Haughton River catchment and the Tanais and Bohle rivers.
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A flood warning has been issued for the north tropical coast and parts of the central coast, which are the Daintree, Mossman and Barron rivers.
A wet weather system began to make its way along the tropical coast of the Whitsunday Islands on Saturday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said that the channel will move eastward and further along the coast over the coming days, but the catchments in the flood watch area have been wetted by recent rains and are saturated in parts.
Sunday was forecast to bring scattered showers and a chance of thunder to the north and far north Queenslandnorth about Mackay to Hughenden.
Severe thunderstorms with the risk of heavy rain were forecast north of Ingham, while heavy rain and thunderstorms were also forecast north of Townsville and south of Weipa.
Thunderstorms were possible north of Ayr and west and far south of Queens.
The wet weather system is not as severe as in recent days, the BoM said.
On Sunday there was a gale warning in place for the Great Barrier Reef offshore and strong wind warnings were issued for the Townsville and Mackay coasts.