Human remains found as fires continue to burn across Victoria
Human remains have been found in the Longwood bushfire area, marking the first death believed to have been caused by the bushfires.
Victorian police confirmed the tragic find in a short statement released late on Sunday afternoon.
It said the remains were found 100m from a vehicle after police were able to access a fire-affected stretch off Yarck Road in Gobur this afternoon.
The person has yet to be formally identified and police are preparing a report for the coroner.
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Updated at 06.02 CET
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What we learned, 11 January 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Tropical Cyclone Koji made landfall in far north Queensland early on Sunday before being downgraded to an ex-Tropical Cyclone.
Harcourt residents told not to drink tap water over contamination fears.
Victorian authorities have warned the bushfires could burn for “weeks” as firefighters on the ground have faced another difficult day.
The Victorian bushfires have compromised air quality across the state with those sensitive to smoke advised to take precautions.
Multiple warnings were issued along the Victorian-New South Wales border after the Walwa fire spread north into New South Wales.
A family of three and their cat “Bubba” have been airlifted to safety after their home in the far north of Victoria was destroyed by fire.
Ten major fires have continued to burn across Victoria with 32 active blazes in the state.
Victorian authorities have asked people not to engage in “dark tourism” by visiting active firegrounds.
Flash flooding and heavy rains are expected for Far North Queensland after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji made landfall.
A mother and two children have survived after escaping their car when they followed Google Maps into a road submerged in floodwaters.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
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Human remains found as fires continue to burn across Victoria
Human remains have been found in the Longwood bushfire area, marking the first death believed to have been caused by the bushfires.
Victorian police confirmed the tragic find in a short statement released late on Sunday afternoon.
It said the remains were found 100m from a vehicle after police were able to access a fire-affected stretch off Yarck Road in Gobur this afternoon.
The person has yet to be formally identified and police are preparing a report for the coroner.
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Updated at 06.02 CET
Clean-up begins in Yarck, Victoria
Here are some images coming from our photographer Steve Womersley as people return to their damaged properties and begin to clean up in Yarck, Victoria.
Building damage at Gunya Animal Healing Sanctuary in Yarck, Victoria. Photograph: Steve Womersley/The GuardianDestroyed house near the centre of Yarck, Victoria. Photograph: Steve Womersley/The GuardianThe road from Yarck to Ruffy blocked by fallen trees. Photograph: Steve Womersley/The GuardianHay bales burn in a paddock near Kanumbra, outside Yarck. Photograph: Steve Womersley/The GuardianA delivery of hay for starving stock arrives in Yarck. Photograph: Steve Womersley/The GuardianShare
Updated at 05.41 CET
Adelaide festival did not dump Jewish columnist from 2024 program despite request from Randa Abdel-Fattah and others
The Adelaide festival board did not dump a Jewish columnist from its 2024 lineup at Adelaide writers’ week, despite being lobbied by a group of 10 academics – including Randa Abdel-Fattah – to do so.
On Saturday the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, claimed that the board had dumped the New York Times pro-Israel columnist Thomas Friedman in 2024, and reiterated his support for the festival board’s decision on Thursday to remove Abdel-Fattah, a Palestinian Australian academic, from this year’s program.
“I note the Adelaide Festival also made its own decision to remove a Jewish writer from the Adelaide Writers’ Week program in 2024 in very similar circumstances,” Malinauskas told the Guardian through a spokesperson on Saturday.
I support that decision, and the consistent application of this principle.
On Saturday News Corp publications picked up on the premier’s statement, reporting the apparent inconsistency between the public outcry against Abdel-Fattah’s removal compared with the alleged removal of Friedman two years earlier, which did not ignite the massive boycott the writers’ week is now seeing, making the 2026 event look increasingly untenable.
Palestinian author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian
Abdel-Fattah and nine other academics sent the Adelaide festival board a letter on 6 February 2024, requesting it rescind the invitation to Friedman, who had published a controversial column days earlier, which compared the Middle East conflict to the animal kingdom.
However, in a letter seen by the Guardian, the festival board rejected this petition to remove Friedman.
For more on this story, read the full report by the Guardian’s Kelly Burke:
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Updated at 05.35 CET
NBN services undamaged but power cuts cause outages
NBN services have not been damaged by the Victorian bushfires but cuts to power have affected the operation of the network, a spokesperson says in the latest update.
In an update on Sunday afternoon, an NBN spokesperson said there are now 27 fixed line and fixed wireless infrastructure sites offline due to power outages, disrupting services to approximately to 2,000 customers.
The spokesperson said services had been restored to 5,000 homes on Saturday evening as power was restored to 50 NBN fixed-line and wireless infrastructure sites.
Since the start of the bushfires, NBN services have been restored to approximately 46,500 premises in Victoria, primarily due to the restoration of local mains power supply.
There are 14 NBN fixed-line and fixed wireless infrastructure sites, serving approximately 4,000 premises, which are running on battery or generator power:
We will continue to monitor the situation, and we will endeavour to keep these sites operational if it is safe to do so. NBN Co expects impact to fluctuate as battery back-up power supply becomes depleted and as commercial power supply is restored.
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Updated at 05.07 CET
SA sends firefighters to Victoria
About 150 South Australian firefighters have been sent to help fight the Victorian bushfires.
Personnel from the Country fire service, the SA Metropolitan fire service, the Department of Environment and Water, the SA ambulance service, the SA State Emergency Service and Fraser Fire and Rescue are being deployed to support firefighting and incident management operations in Victoria.
About 110 of these are from the CFS, including volunteer firefighters and incident management team personnel, with 60 deploying this weekend and approximately 50 firefighters from the south-east deployed to the Natimuk area near Horsham on Friday 9 January.
They will be involved in frontline firefighting, incident management, planning, logistics and safety roles as part of the Victorian response.
Rhiannon Pearce, the minister for emergency services, said the effort showed a strong coordination between the states when it came to disaster management:
South Australians can be proud of our firefighters from across the various agencies who are giving up time with their families over the holiday period to support their interstate counterparts.
Victorian firefighters are being stretched due to the number of fires across that state and South Australia stands ready to support them through this difficult time.
I wish all our firefighters a safe trip and look forward to their return.
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Updated at 05.00 CET
Crisafulli says Google maps ‘important resource’ but on-the-ground knowledge is key during disasters
Crisafulli says Google maps is “a really important resource just not during disasters”.
Google maps is a really important resource, just not during disasters because they’re headquartered a long way away and you’ve got to place your faith in the hands of the locals on the ground who know. And that’s our message.
So I make that as a general comment in terms of the comment about the mum and her children, I’m just genuinely so thankful and grateful that they were able to get to safety. Human life is worth more than anything.
The premier has also warned people seeking to retrieve boats that have become unmoored not to enter the water.
I understand why people would want to go and retrieve those boats, but your life is worth so much more than your boat, and we want people to be safe and we want to support them. And the marine rescue and water police will help in those retrievals and will help people get back on their feet. We just want people to stay in one piece.
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Updated at 04.49 CET
Rescues carried out from flood waters in Queensland
We are receiving more information about rescues carried out.
Off the coast of Cannonvale, near Pigeon Island, around 9.28am on Sunday, a vessel took on water and sunk rapidly. Two men had to abandon ship and swam to shore where they were rescued. They have been assessed by the Queensland ambulance service and have no injuries.
In the area of Bogie, 57km west of Bowen, a woman was following Google maps when she drove through flood waters with her two children in the car. The car quickly became trapped but the woman and her children were able to escape and get to a nearby home to call for help. Authorities have warned people to be careful when following Google maps as they have not been updated with flooded roads.
In another incident at Finch Hatton, west of McKay, rapid creek rises forced two men and five children to become trapped in a residence. Rising water forced them to climb onto tables within the building, but the water level fell before becoming critical. First responders and community members were able to extract the group.
A reminder that people should avoid driving into flood waters. For more on what can happened, and what to do if a vehicle becomes trapped, read more here:
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Updated at 05.56 CET
Mother and two children pulled from Queensland flood waters
A mother and her two children have been pulled from flood waters on Sunday morning, west of Bowen at Strathalbyn.
I can’t express how glad we are that they’re safe and well. I always say in a disaster it’s people that come first and property can be replaced, people can’t. And to know that people are safe and well means so much to us. And that is our first, second and third priority in an event. I can assure you of that.
The operation was conducted by Swift Water Rescue but more detail will be provided shortly.
About 15,000 homes and businesses are without power, but crews are working to restore power as quickly as possible.
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Updated at 04.20 CET
Prosperine and Mackay airports remain closed
On aviation, the Prosperine and Mackay airports remain closed for now, with Townsville airport having reopened earlier on Sunday.
The North Coast rail line north of Bowne is closed and the ports at Abbott Point, Lucinda, Townsville and Whitsundays remain closed.
For information on local roads, residents are asked to check their local council’s website for the most up-to-date detail.
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Updated at 04.21 CET
Flash flooding risk south of Mackay: Queensland premier
Flooding remains a concern for communities in the path of ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji, the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, says.
The premier is giving un update on conditions hours after the weather system made landfall in far north Queensland.
Crisafulli says an area south of Mackay, north of Rockhampton, has been affected, with a real risk of flash flooding as the result of swollen catchments.
If you’re in a low-lying area [make sure] that you do know your risks and just stay safe on the roads.
And as I have repeatedly said, the vast majority of people have conducted themselves in a really safe and responsible way, but also in a great way of mateship, the way that people have worked with their neighbours and just more generally in the local area.
And I just want to express my gratitude for that in the way that Queenslanders always conduct themselves in these events.
The premier says wind gusts of 133km/h were recorded at Hamilton Island with an ongoing risk of heavy rainfall.
Residents of the region should be aware that the Bruce Highway has been cut at Peters Flat just north of Bowen.
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Updated at 04.22 CET
Work under way to restore power to Victorian fire-affected areas
Work to restore power in fire-affected communities is under way, with crews on the ground working to make repairs.
Powercor spokesperson Emma Tyner spoke to the ABC earlier on Sunday saying that 57 poles have been replaced in affected areas with another 173 needing work.
She said work was still under way, with crews beginning to get access to areas that have previously been cut off.
The biggest challenge really is accessing firegrounds. A lot of these fires are still active and it’s not safe to even access it. So we have to work very closely with CFA and other emergency authorities to be able to access these areas.
For example, yesterday we were able to get partial access to the Harcourt town with an escort from the CFA crews there, which allowed us to get on the ground, check out what was occurring and do some minor repair works, but it’s still active.
Tyner said people looking to understand what outages look like can find more information on their distributor’s website. There are SMS alerts also being sent out and representatives at relief centres to speak to people directly.
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Updated at 03.53 CET
Flooding expected for Burdekin shire area
Flooding is expected for the Burdekin Shire Council area after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji made landfall earlier today.
Mayor Pierina Dalle Cort is speaking to the ABC to provide an update about conditions and says the local community is well prepared.
Our community has done an incredible job preparing for this weather event and the preparations have paid off. But while we have avoided the worst of the tropical cyclone, the risk of flooding remains very real. So I’m asking people to stay alert and stay informed.
Cort said the community was still waiting for the situation to pass, but that her constituency was resilient.
We just seem to knuckle down and take what’s given to us. But this rain has been certainly very good for the cane farmers in our area. So they can sit back and relax. Unfortunately, they can’t go fishing at this stage, but the cane’s growing nicely and there doesn’t seem to be any great destruction from the winds that we’ve had.
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Updated at 03.50 CET
