1. WILDFIRES ON AUSTRALIA’S TASMANIA ISLAND BURN 128 HOMES AND FORCE THOUSANDS TO FLEE JANUARY 4, 2013 Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna, Virginia, USA

2. WILDFIRES ON TASMANIA: (TEMPERATURE REACHED 40 DEGREES C)

3. IMPACT IN TOWN OF DUNALLEY A SCHOOL AND A POLICE STATION WERE DESTROYED, ALONG WITH ONE-THIRD OF ALL BUILDINGS.

4. EVACUATION Further south on the Tasmania Peninsula east of Hobart, the capitol, as many as 2,000 people took refuge in the town of Nubeena overnight, while another 700 were sheltered at the nearby historic Port Arthur site. Others were ferried to safety.

5. OTHER WILDFIRES BURNING Bushfires are also burning in other parts of Australia, including South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

6. LABETOUCHE, AUSTRALlA: 93 KM (56 MILES) EAST OF MELBOURNE

7. IMPACT OF WILDFIRE: 2009

8. WILDFIRES REACH “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL” IN AUSTRALIA JANUARY 8, 2013

9. High temperatures and extreme dryness caused 200 wildfires to ignite and reach a “CATASTROPHIC LEVEL” in New South Wales

10. RECORD TEMPERATURES Monday (Jan 7--Australia had its hottest day on record with a nationwide average of 40.33 degrees C (104.59 F). Tuesday was the third hottest day at 40.11 C (104.20 F). Four of Australia's hottest 10 days on record have been in 2013.

11. THE GOOD NEWS: Although people are missing, no deaths reported in Tasmania or New South Wales (as of January 8)

12. THE BAD NEWS The fires have been most devastating in Tasmania, where at least 128 homes have been destroyed since Friday and more than 80,000 hectares (198,000 acres) burned. Hundreds of people remain at two evacuation centers in the state's south.

13. SOUTH NEW WALES

14. FIGHTING THE FIRE FROM THE AIR

15. WILDLIFE IMPACTED

16. KEEPING A SURVIVOR OF THE FIRE ALIVE

17. BACKGROUND FOR UNDERSTANDING AUSTRALIA’S WILDFIRES

18. AUSTRALIA’S WORST WILDFIRE OUTBREAK

19. The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history burned people in their homes and cars and wiped out entire towns 173 DEAD; 2000 HOMES DESTROYED

20. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: WORST EVER WILDFIRES IN AUSTRALIA’S HISTORY 400 FIRES BURNED FOR WEEKS IN VICTORIA STATE FEBRUARY 2009

21. Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters Planet Earth’s atmospheric- lithospheric interactions create favorable conditions for:  Wildfires

22. SCIENCE OF WILDFIRES

23. WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and business enterprise.

24. WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS) FIRE HOT GASES AND SMOKE HOT SPOTS BURNED OUT SLOPES (with increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides )

25. WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS) SUNDOWNER WINDS SANTA ANNA WINDS LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER

26. YOUR COMMUNITY DATA BASES AND INFORMATION HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS WILDFIRE HAZARDS INVENTORY VULNERABILITY LOCATION RISK ASSESSMENT RISK ACCEPTABLE RISK UNACCEPTABLE RISK RISK REDUCTION FOR WILDFIRES PREVENTION/MITIGATION PREPAREDNESS EMERGENCY RESPONSE RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION EDUCATIONAL SURGE POLICY OPTIONS

27. LIGHTNING STRIKES WILDFIRES MANMADE FIRES PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT CHANGES) DRYNESS HIGH TEMPERATURES LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY CAUSES OF FIRES DISASTER LABORATORIES

28. WILDFIRES CAN CAUSE HIGH-RISK SITUATIONS People, property, infrastructure, business enterprise, government, natural resources, and the environment are at risk.