El Nino Natural Disaster

Black Saturday Bush fires
Where was it? (get exact information to use on your Google Map)
The black Saturday Bush fires occurred in the areas around Victoria. But the fire started at Gippsland Victoria and spread over 450,000 hectares.
What are the important weather statistics which make it a NATURAL disaster? (eg. If it is a cyclone, what was the wind speeds? How big was it? ect.)
• The important weather statistics for a fire to make it a natural disaster is-
• The speed the fire travelled at was 100km/h which was mainly caused by the wind and the deep bushland surrounding the towns. This was one main statistic which makes it a natural disaster.
• The fires came as Melbourne reached its hottest ever temperature of 46.4 degrees.
• The extremely hot temperatures were accompanied by very strong north westerly winds, which changed to strong south easterly winds in the late afternoon.
How did it effect communities? (people killed, damage, ect.)

This natural disaster had many effects on the communities like the loss of property, the number of deaths and power and phone network failures.The Bushfires Royal Commission gave a "conservative" estimate of the total cost of the Black Saturday bushfires of A$4.4 billion.
Loss of property
• The fires have destroyed at least 1,834 homes, with thousands more suffering damage.
• The fires have left an estimated 7,500 people homeless.

Deaths
• As at May 13 , 2009, 173 people are reported dead.
• Several million native animals are estimated to have died.

Power and phone network failures
The following power lines which supply Melbourne with electricity failed during the bushfires:
• Two power lines in the Latrobe valley, due to the Churchill fire
One power line to the north of Melbourne, due to the Kilmore fire
• An electricity spokesperson stated on the Radio 774 on February 7 that Melbourne was very close to losing its power as a result of these fires. If another power line had been impacted the entire grid would have been temporarily shut down.
• Phone networks failed in fire areas when the following infrastructure was destroyed by fire:
• poles and wires for landline phone networks.
• transmitter towers for mobile networks.
How have local, state, national government and emergencies react?

Responses to the Black Saturday bushfires included immediate community response, donations and later, international aid efforts, Government inquiries including a Royal Commission and recommendations and discussions from a wide variety of bodies, organisations, authorities and communities.
Government

The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, accepted an offer from the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to dispatch members of the Australian Defence Force to provide assistance in that state. The Federal Government announced a $10 million package of emergency assistance, available from 9 February, providing $1,000 per adult and $400 per child for those who had been hospitalised with injuries or who had lost their homes.
Fire fighting

More than 4,000 firefighters from the Country Fire Authority which is primarily responsible for fires on private property and the Department of Sustainability and Environment which is primarily responsible for fires on public land worked to battle the fires.
Aid efforts

Many business’s helped by making donations to effected people and areas. Business’s and organisations like-
• The Victorian Government's Department of Human Services offered immediate assistance of up to $1,067 for affected people
• The bushfire appeal raised more than $372 million in total. The appeal by the Australian Red Cross raised over $315 million. The Red Cross Blood Service received 6,000 offers of blood donations on the morning of 9 February alone. The Salvation Army appeal raised $17.5 million
• Major banks National Australia Bank, ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac each announced $1 million in donations for fire victims.
• BP donated $635,000 to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal, along with donations from employees to be matched from the BP Foundation.
Are there any ongoing or risidual effects of this natural disaster or has the community fully recovered?

There are still many ongoing effects from the Victorian bush fires as more than 50% of the damaged houses and buildings are yet to be repaired or rebuilt and many of the wildlife is still damaged but has regrown to a certain extent.