Faced with the risk of more fires, Australian authorities urged tourists to leave the southeast of the country

[Inkriql]

Local authorities have urged on Thursday (local time) tourists and all non-residents to leave the fire zones in southeastern Australia in anticipation of an extreme heat wave and that the risk of fire increases during the Weekend.

The Rural Fire Service of New South Wales has declared an "area without tourists", which goes 240 kilometers south of the tourist town of Batemans Bay to the border with the state of Victoria.

His deputy commissioner, Rob Rogers, explained to the press on Thursday morning that the risk of fire is far from over and that conditions are expected to worsen on Sunday, when another heat wave arrives with temperatures over 40 degrees centigrade

Long rows of vehicles have collapsed the roads that go north and west from the evacuation zone this Thursday. Many others are unable to leave since the gas stations are without fuel or the pumps do not work due to blackouts.

There is also a lack of food and water in many of the coastal communities that have been isolated from the highway since the fires began on Monday and Tuesday, the Rural Fire Service reported.

Many roads are still closed by flames and fallen trees that burden efforts to get food, water and fuel to these areas.

The Department of Defense has informed that it is expected that a Navy ship arrives Thursday at the coastal town of Mallacoota, in Victoria, with supplies for some 4,000 people caught by fires since Monday. The ship could evacuate up to a thousand people.

The Meteorological Office has reported that a heat wave with strong winds will hit southern Australia this Thursday before reaching the southeast of the country on Saturday.