welcome back to nowra. stars like nicole kidman are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars just for firefighters and to the recovery efforts here in australia. there is a really strong sense here in new south wales, eve ryo ne sense here in new south wales, everyone in australia wants to do something to help. there is a sense of despair amongst many people, a sense of helplessness, so everyone is doing what they can to help those affected and, of course, the firefighters who are really seen as heroes here. some of them haven't had a day off for weeks, fighting fires. there are more than 150 still burning in new south wales and we are watching these two big fires in victoria that people worry willjoin together to form one giant laser. this stay with us on bbc news from all the latest in australia on the bushfire crisis. hello. roadside —— sky for some on sunday night but not a huge amount of delight for the savadori did the rest of us for the next few days. quite a turbulence well with the potential for d

i'm lucy hockings in nowra in new south wales, in australia. the headlines: the worst weekend of bushfires yet has seen hundreds of homes destroyed. and there's a warning they could go on burning for months. after weeks of criticism for his reaction to the bushfire crisis, prime minister scott morrison defends his government's response. this is the largest single call out ever of reservists working with our full time defence service providing support that our country has never seen before. south of here in the state of victoria there are fears that two huge fires could merge into one to create a mega blaze. i'm lewis vaughanjones in london. also in the programme... iran says it's taking another step back from the constraints of international nuclear deal following the american assassination of general soleimani. taiwan chooses a new president and parliament on saturday. which is more important to voters — economics or identity? good morning. welcome to nowra in new south wales. it's midnight in london and ham here in new south wales. i'm in the

fill in at nowra in new south wales. thank you.res are also going to have a little bit more on the royal family and going to have a little bit more on the royalfamily and mental health stop see you soon. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief! after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. teams were trying to scoop up lumps of oil, as france recognises it faces an ecological crisis. three weeks ago, the authorities confidently assured these areas that oil from the broken tanker erika would head out to sea. it didn't. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai

phil mercer, bbc news, nowra, new south wales. burning over a wide area along australia's eastern seaboard. another of our correspondents, shaimaa khalil, is in ulla—dulla, another of the areas under threat. the winds picked up quite strongly here in the town, bringing this huge plume of smoke over and you can feel some ash in the air as well. people in this holiday park have abandoned their cabins and have come to the beach to seek refuge. some have said they are responding to messages from they are responding to messages from the police and fire services. others are hosting their cabins, just to be prepared. people they say they are relatively safe but feel anxious, they don't know what will happen next and that has been the challenge. these fires are so unpredictable and nobody knows where they will hit next and how hard that will be. over a thousand residents and tourists who had been stranded on a beach by bushfires in mallacoota, southeastern australia have landed near melbourne after a 20—hour journey on two ships. they arr

phil mercer, bbc news, nowra, new south wales.ver a wide area along australia's eastern seaboard. another of our correspondents, shaimaa khalil, is in ulladulla, another of the areas under threat. the winds picked up quite strongly here in the town of ulladulla, bringing this huge plume of smoke over and you can actually feel some ash in the air as well. people in this holiday park have abandoned their cabins and have come to the beach to seek refuge. some have told me they are also responding to messages from the police and from the fire services. others are still hosing their cabins and trees around them just to be prepared. people tell me they feel relatively safe here but they're still quite anxious, they don't know what will happen next and that has really been the challenge. these fires are just so unpredictable and nobody knows where they will hit next and how hard that's going to be. the headlines on bbc news: huge crowds join funeral processions in iraq, for iran's top military commander killed by a us drone strike. presi

diana, iwas in nowra the south—east on thursday and friday.gnificant heavy rain shadow. what is needed though, how much rain is needed to make a real difference to the fires? u nfortu nately make a real difference to the fires? unfortunately much more than that can happen 50 millimetres up we have seen widespread across the area. we are looking more sort of in the ranges of 100 plus two really com pletely ranges of 100 plus two really completely but these fires out u nfortu nately completely but these fires out unfortunately at these and 70 forecast. when not expecting those kind of totals. so it looks at this event is going to keep going that next bike and fire dangers on friday for that area. diana can ask about climate change? it's very much but of the composition here in australia at the moment, how much it is better that we are seeing part of global climate change? we know that temperatures have been warming and of course having that extra heat, the extra ingredient, doesn't of course increase of identity and we have seen a prolonged fire

expected to intensify the fire danger this weekend. 0ur correspondent phil mercer joins us now from nowrat give us an update on the ground. well, eastern australia has just been buffeted by these very strong volatile winds, we are in the town of makro three, and an hour ago —— nowra, and we were hit by dust and wind that has hit the region. this volatile strong wind will mean more danger in the hours to come. this is what they were most worried about, that the strong winds would fund dozens of fires that continue to rage here in new south wales. the authorities believe homes have been lost, and some of these outbreaks, some of the blazes here in eastern australia are threatening lives as well. so it is this wind making a dangerous situation even more perilous. is it thought that people who need to get out of the area are responding to all the warnings and advice? not everyone did, many people have. we are hearing reports that in the state of victoria, army helicopters have had to go in to rescue and air lift people who have no way of escape. so, for days the authorities have been urging p

from the town of nowra in new south wales, here's my colleague, lucy hockings.wra rural fire service and why we have been watching the firetrucks and go all week, that has been matched by the amount of people who have been coming and going, dropping off donations for those that have lost their homes and been evacuated. everything from biscuits and noodles to things for babies like nappies and clothes. the level of generosity here is truly extraordinary and across australia ordinary people have given $100 million already to help those in need. i have been speaking to rhonda watson about why she felt compelled to give. what is the response when you see generosity? just amazing, it is incredible, the shoalhaven have pulled together so much and it is just wonderful to see they are all helping each other, we are helping our firies helping each other, we are helping ourfiries and helping each other, we are helping our firies and that, it is incredible. what have you brought, what is in your boxes?” incredible. what have you brought, what is in your boxes? i have broug

our correspondent phil mercer is in nowra in new south wales. has got stronger and is whipping up dust, combining with the smoke to make the air turn a murky red. the wind of change has just come in and this hill near nowra in new south wales has been transformed by a southerly wind change. we can feel the dust and the ash that has been whipped up by these very strong wins. ——winds. and this is what the authorities have been so very worried about. it is the winds that have been the real enemy of the firefighting effort today. we have had very high temperatures and now we are having this ferocious wind and the dust is being whipped up from the land and the fires that have raged in south—eastern australia will be affected by these winds. they will be fanned by this, making a dangerous situation even more perilous. earlier, i spoke to a former bbc journalist julian lorkin who lives in kellyville in the hills district of sydney. he told me that the fires in the blue mountains are getting ever closer to sydney. they are only about 12 miles or so away

selby stewart, thank you for that update about the fires in australia, reporting from nowra.s well. stay with us on bbc news. hello. we've ended 2019 on a fairly quiet note. the best of the sunshine through new year's eve was across northern and eastern england, parts of scotland we saw some spectacular sunsets to end the year and the decade. and this quieter theme continues through new year's eve underneath this area of high pressure. but notice that the isobars are closer together across northern ireland and scotland, so, a windier day here. and also, a cloudier day across the uk to start 2020. that cloud could be thick enough for the odd patch of drizzle. for most it's mainly dry through daylight hours with some brightness or sunshine across eastern counties of scotland, north—east england, perhaps north wales for a time and maybe into east anglia, too. light or gentle winds for most away from the western and northern isles of scotland, where the winds will be strengthening through the day, perhaps gusts of a0—50 miles an hour. still, quite a cool feel to the day across th

significant losses in the past 24 hours a number of times especially on the southeast coast sent me from nowra down all the white to the victorian border i have to be impacted system crews are still learning the very early stages of starting to identify properties in the locks at this stage we've got 60 homes we believe that have been lost but we know that's well and truly going to bake into the hundreds just due to access issues of the moment so we'll continue to work overtime and dies once we get access and to identify those on the properties the whole structure is that has been damaged but the the next biggest thing is obviously a recovery phase and trying to get people back into their hinds that they're still standing might those areas saif strong restore what normality we can into these very much on president to situations that we've got going on he james what's the big picture for cost here i mean i know it's a tough question right now but any idea when these wildfires might be under some kind of control. the only thing in our we've said it in a number of interviews that we've done now b

now speak to our correspondent phil mercer who joins us from the princes highway close the town of nowrafirefighters have been battling the bushfires the past week. describe the describe the scene where you are on the kind of conditions you've been experiencing. this traffic is part of the biggest evacuation this part of australia has ever seen. all the cars, the trailers, trucks, boats, the surfboards, packed cars are all part of this evacuation from southern parts of new south wales. they have been declared unsafe for holidaymakers and residents so what we've been seeing is thousands of people leaving the danger zone had a predicted extreme conditions across south—eastern australia on saturday and what the authorities are really worried about, searing temperatures into the 40s, very dry winds that will exacerbate the five thread and that's why so many people are heading this emergency declaration to get out while they can. it's a massive evacuation, phil. you must have met a lot of desperate and devastated people. how bad has it been for those people in those cars behind you and what h

cnn correspondent will ripley is live in nowra, australia with the latest on the fires, and, of courseideo i think i've seen in the adorable and sweetness category, dropping carrots to the animals below. my goodness. >> reporter: so, let's start with the good news, right? because obviously we know that these fires have been just awful. for some of the world's most endangered species. critically endangered species like the rock wallaby, which saw all of its diet burned up because it feeds on the vegetation on the ground. right now much of the ground in these areas is just pure black ash. so what the government has done is allocating millions of dollars for relief organizations to fly overhead, drop down carrots and sweet potatoes to feed these animals, hoping that the rain in the forecast in the coming days will help to kind of retrigger the vegetation growth and not result in these animals becoming dependent on humans for their survival. of course that would not be a good thing either. let's talk about the efforts to contain these fires. the fire fighting has shifted. and this is a goo

i'm lucy hockings in nowra in new south wales, in australia.hs. after weeks of criticism for his reaction to the bushfire crisis, prime minister scott morrison defends his government's response. this is the largest single call out ever of reservists working with our full time defence service providing support that our country has never seen before. south of here in the state of victoria there are fears that two huge fires could merge into one to create a mega blaze.

our correspondent phil mercer joins us now from nowra in new south wales.h the firefighting effort and the recovery effort, more navy ships, more army, helicopters and air force planes are coming in. to the west of us is a very large fire causing concern, we understand that has jumped the river to the north and we can hear thunderstorms in the air. it is very hot here, just after seven o'clock in the evening, we can hear thunderstorms. it adds to the sense of ghostly miss, it is a very sinister feel of ghostly miss, it is a very sinisterfeel in this of ghostly miss, it is a very sinister feel in this part of the country, many towns are empty because people have left. the scorched land is very unnerving for the people still here. so the big problem for australians in this part of australia is that fires are very unpredictable and nobody knows when they will strike, if they will strike, and if they do, how ferocious they will be, so more dangerous hours ahead for this part of the country. thank you, phil mercer, in new south wales for us this morning. the num

abc correspondent selby stewart is in nowra.ajor issues authorities are dealing with in relation to the bushfires. at the moment, there is still more than 100 bushfires that are burning across new south wales and the majority of those are still uncontained. and this comes just after one of the most devastating days we've had this bushfire season. at the moment, residents here are waking up, it's the morning here, and they‘ re discovering just how devastating the last 2a hours have been. we now know that at least 200 homes have been lost, just yesterday, which of course was new year's eve, meant to be a time for celebration, have been lost yesterday. we've now confirmed three people have died on the south coast of new south wales and there are others still missing. right now, we know there are many people trapped, believed to be injured, and because they are in isolated communities, it isjust impossible for emergency services to reach them. and, of course, despite those terrible fires that we saw yesterday, there are many that wi

those animals have been given another chance at life, here's my colleague, lucy hockings, in nowra.of life in this charred bushland. normally it would be teeming with animals, from lizards to birds, koalas and kangaroos. but there are now estimates that half a billion animals here in new south wales alone have died in this bushfire disaster. some are surviving, though. we met nikki and steve, one couple doing their best to make a small difference. nikki, tell me about these lovely baby bats. so these bats have really been struggling with climate change and the extreme heat temperatures we've been having. their mothers haven't been able to feed them enough so they've been abandoned. in the shoalhaven alone, we've had thousands and thousands of bats die. these guys are the lucky ones, they were saved when they were just 30 days old and we have been raising them ever since and they will go back out into the wild to hopefully reproduce and make more babies. and the worry for the bats is? with climate change, the bats aren't doing very well. alone in the last month, we've had thousands d

last night, i was in nowra and there was quite a significant heavy rain shower. what is needed?res? u nfortu nately real difference to the fires? unfortunately much more of that, 10—15 millimetres. we are looking more and the ranges of 100 plus to com pletely more and the ranges of 100 plus to completely put these fires out. in a seven—day forecast period, we not expecting those of totals. it looks like this event is going to keep going. with the next fire over that area. i'm not sure if you can see through the trees, all of those trucks, maintenance crews. trying to restore some of the power and phone lines and with this cooler weather, thatis lines and with this cooler weather, that is probably happening across the state of new south wales. aside from the obvious human crisis, there is another story emerging. it is january here in australia, the summer january here in australia, the summer holidays, the kids are off school. driving here, you should be seeing loads of holidaymakers, filling up the cafe ‘s, that is not happening in the lots of people, they rely on this time of y

this area of nowra, where we are at the moment, resembles a first world war battlefield with so manys blackened and charred and the earth scorched and that heavy, acrid smell of smoke hanging in the air. temperatures have come down a little, providing a bit of respite for the emergency services but they are expected to spike well over a0 degrees towards the end of the week. that leaves the fear that scores of fires could merge into one huge disaster which could claim more lives. look at that road. this bushfire season is like no other in modern australian history. i mean, this is unprecedented, what we're having here. i mean, the whole country is alight. within half an hour it was, "get out, it's too late to leave." you know, "you should seek shelter." this is a thousand times worse. this is catastrophic. all the fires up the coast are catastrophic. worry etches the faces of those who fled to this hotel from the small town of bundanoon. their homes encircled by two monster fires. the smell of smoke is present even here. by 9:30, i thought i was ok. judy coverdale is one of those who

i'm lucy hockings in nowra in new south wales in australia. this could go on burning for months. after weeks of criticism for his reaction to the bushfire crisis, prime minister scott morrison defends his government's response. this is the largest single call—out ever of reservists working with our full—time defence service providing support that our country has never seen before. south of here in the state of victoria, there are fears that

philjoins us now from nowra in new south wales. phil, what's the latest there? to the south and west of where we are in nowra, this is a regional city about 120 miles to the south of sydney, there is a major bushfire burning, and the authorities fear those extreme conditions forecast for tomorrow could make fires like this more intense, and that is why there has been this widespread evacuation order. vast areas of southern new south wales are being evacuated. we have spent some time today on the main highway, the princes highway between the south coast and cities like sydney to the north, and for quite some time it has been bumper—to—bumper. but in the last couple of hours the highway has become quite quiet, so it seems those people who are leaving have decided to do so by today. the authorities say it is simply not safe for residents and holidaymakers to stay in that part of new south wales. you might be able to see around me some of the devastation that these fires have caused. the trees are blackened, the earth is that horrible ghostly grey colour, and throug

my colleague, lucy hockings, is is in nowra, which is about 70 miles south of sydney.are? —— live. just driving to where i am right now, on the side of the princes highway, one of australia's busiest roads, we passed mile upon mile of burnt out bush. it gives you an idea of the scale of this crisis. the weather is cooler here at the moment and that has given quite a bit of respite to people because i think they are living these next few days without the fear of panic that something drastic is going to happen, but there is a sense that people are in limbo because they know late in the week the higher temperatures are set to return, and with those higher temperatures comes the threat and the guarantee almost of the fires lighting up again. let's talk about what it is like to live here, for the businesses here. iamjoined by live here, for the businesses here. i am joined by the president of the local business chamber. have you had to evacuate? what is life like for the past few weeks? it has been challenging. we had hoped to evacuate on new year's eve when the conditions

phil mercer, bbc news, in nowra, new south wales. agreed to pay more than £10 million for their role in a power cut last august, which left more than a million people without electricity. the blackout lasted less than an hour but afftected homes, businesses and hospitals — and caused travel chaos. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. remember this? the biggest blackout in a decade, chaos and confusion, hundreds of trains cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded. this is bbc 5live. how long have you been on that train for now? i think we are onto hour nine. michael wilson eventually made it home to london from newcastle at 1am with his daughter, an experience he told me he never wants to repeat. when you've been on the train for that long, there were babies crying, there were people getting quite upset. there was one point where there was a member of staff who quite clearly was in tears over the tannoy because people were getting quite agitated. so, who's to blame? there was a lightning strike on a transmission line

here's my colleague, lucy hockings in nowra. there is little sign of life in this charred bushland.s. but there are now estimates that half a billion animals here in new south wales alone have died in this bushfire disaster. some are surviving, though, we met nikki and steve, one couple doing their best to make a small difference. nikki, tell me about these lovely bats. these bats have really been struggling with climate change and the extreme heat temperatures we have been having. their mothers haven't been able to feed them enough so they have been abandoned stop in the shoalhaven alone, we have had thousands of thousands of bats die. these guys are the lucky ones and was saved when they were just 30 days old and we have been raising them ever since and they will go back out into the wild to hopefully reproduce and make more babies. and the worry for the bats is? with climate change, the bats is? with climate change, the bats are not doing very well. alone in the last month, we have had thousands die. in the last year, they have just been getting decimated. 0ver they have just bee

hundreds more property is destroyed. 0ur correspondent has spent the day in the fire ravaged town of nowraeady for the night shift, it is quite quiet but on some of the hotter, busier days when the crisis had a grip, the room was full of people monitoring what was full of people monitoring what was happening. here is ian smith, it has been cooler today and a bit of rain. has that helped or hindered you? the rain has been good because it has acquired into the fired down but it has had the opposite impact in that we weren't able to do a lot of oui’ that we weren't able to do a lot of our back burning operations we were planning to do before the next onset of bad weather in about five days. what is back burning? where we go back to control lines and use a fire to work back towards mainfires, burning and use a fire to work back towards main fires, burning out are the vegetation between our control line and the main fire. so it is firefighting fire? what do expect to hear of the next few days? we hear the temperatures are set to rise. yes, it will be a bit cooler in the next few days, no rain,

my colleague lucy hockings is in the town of nowra.he town where the regional area in response to the bushfire crisis is being co—ordinated from, and you will know that the fires are affecting many places right around the country, but it is here in new south wales that has seen the worst of it. there are still 150 fires burning across the state, 2a people have died in this bushfire disaster and thousands of homes have been destroyed. you might have seen just behind me as well a picture of a kangaroo and a wombat, those signs are all over australia, but the estimate we are now getting from local authorities as at half a billion animals in new south wales alone have died. australians this morning i waking up after that horrific weekend to another day of devastation and despair. we have had a little bit of reprieve, though, because they have been some light rain falling, some drizzle, and it isa rain falling, some drizzle, and it is a psychological boost for people here after that intense heat. we had a cooler day and rain falling. it is

lucy hockings is in nowra. is a real concern about what there is a real concern about what the hot windy weather will bring in the hot windy weather will bring in the next few days. fires are a natural part of australian life but eve ryo ne natural part of australian life but everyone here has been shot by the ferocity of this year's season. nick turner spent years designing and putting a beautiful garden in the kangaroo valley. he knew that the state would one day come. he sheltered with eight of his neighbours in his home and wash as a cyclonic farce from hit his house. this is the story of how he and his neighbour survived in his home. we save the house and the house saved us, and that was a nexus that if it had broken at any point would have meant that we would've perished. the airwas like if meant that we would've perished. the air was like if you are in a very big funder storm but instead of sheets of water, it was sheets of embers and looked like fire, there's ago embers and looked like fire, there's a g

and near nowra, a massive wildfire jumped the river ign e igniting new fires. plumes of smoke blocking out the sun. then a warning from officials to seek shelter or get out. >> we're going to pack up and if we have to go we'll go. >> screen set up on the roof. >> reporter: not everyone is willing. this couple is staying put and hoping wet towels will be enough. >> we feel we're well prepared. >> reporter: if you have to leave you'll leave? >> worried leaving we might not come back to our home, but that's -- you know, there's only so much you can do. >> reporter: one of the worst fire seasons on record here after years of drought linked to climate change. communities along the coast ravaged. images of koalas and kangaroos fleeing the flames have gone viral. animals rescued from fire zones ending up at wildlife sanctuaries across the state where orphaned wallbies, wombats and others are rehabilitated. >> you're amazing. >> reporter: but will struggle to return to habitats that are destroyed. >> it's a huge concern. >> yes, it is. the other thing had they come out

well, phil mercerjoins us now from the town of nowra in new south wales.hat's been happening. this house was destroyed on new year's eve and what happened according to the owner, the flames tore up this ridgeline that lies just beyond the property. as you can see, the trees here are charge, the ground is that ghostly shade of grey and there is this unmistakable stench of ash and smoke in the air. the children ‘s trampoline clearly no match for the flames that taught through here and overpowered this particular home. the homeowner, he's given us his permission to be here, he says that he is already planning to rebuild his family home, six young children had been living here but if you look inside, no evidence of family life and if you can just see the steel girders that were supporting this property. due to the intensity and the sheer heat of these claims, you can see how they have been buckled and twisted and it's a similar depressing story for the rest of the building, the roof isa the rest of the building, the roof is a mangled mess as well. this heartbr

i am standing in the nowra fire safety command centre, and they are getting ready for the night shiftof rain. as it helped or hindered you? it has had a dual effect. the rain has been good because it has quietened the fire down but it has had the opposite impact, in that we were not able to do a lot of our back burning operations that we were planning to do before the next onset of bad weather and in about five days. what is back burning? back burning is where we fall back to control lines and use fire to work back towards main fire, so burning out all the vegetation between our control line and the main fire. so it is fire fighting fire? fire fighting fire, yes, indeed. what are we expecting over the next few days, because we're hearing that the temperatures are set to rise again? the next two or three days are very much like we have had. it will be a bit cooler, bit more moisture, no rain but moist so we will continue with trying to do that back burning. then we are getting to another cycle of warm, windy weather towards the weekend. and we will go through those cycles about every s

phil mercer is live in nowra for us this morning.ve been talking to you the last couple of mornings, can i sense a bit of rain with you there? yes, unbelievably it is raining. this is a contrast to condition yesterday that were fairly monstrous. very hot temperatures, very strong, gusty winds fuelling many fires here in south eastern australia. we are in kangaroo valley, about 100 miles south of sydney. 0n kangaroo valley, about 100 miles south of sydney. on saturday evening, flames tore through this region, vast areas of bushland have been destroyed. this is a very popular tourist place, not too far from sydney. but it is almost deserted. the trucks, the cars on the vehicles we have seen on this road are largely emergency vehicles and fire engines. across new south wales and the rest of the fire zones in the state of victoria, these cooler conditions clearly helping the firefighting effort. but this sort of rain will help, but it will not extinguish the danger. in new south wales they are about 150 fires still burning. many still bu

jonathan head is in nowra in new south wales, one of the towns devastated by the fires.hat house may have had a really lucky escape? yeah, this houseis really lucky escape? yeah, this house is one... i've seen it in quite a few places where the owner stayed but then his wife and children were sent away and he has described the most apocalyptic scenes but he had firefighters coming in and then they left to go to other fires. fires were storming up to other fires. fires were storming up the hill this way and coming from the back, but he put sprinklers on the back, but he put sprinklers on the roof and he cleared things that could burn from around and he had water tanks and hoses ready and pumps to pump water up and he was able to keep it at bay. talking to him today, he is still pretty shattered and trying to come to terms with it but his house is saved. he has brought down to trees that are so damaged they are a real danger and that's a real problem here. he is clearing brush because we expect more hot weather later this week and of course the hot season has many weeks to