#Australia declares state of disaster as bushfires rage

Australian authorities declared a #StateOfDisaster on Saturday after #bushfires destroyed houses and razed vast belts of #forest in the country's southeast.

Temperatures soared past 40C as a #HeatWave blanketed the state of #Victoria this week, with hot winds fanning some of the most dangerous fire weather since the "Black Summer" #bushfires of 2019-2020.

One of the most destructive bushfires ripped through almost 150,000 hectares (370,000 acres) near #Longwood, a region cloaked in native #forests.

State Premier Jacinta Allan on Saturday declared a state of disaster, giving fire crews emergency powers to force evacuations.

"It's all about one thing: protecting Victorian lives," she said.

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-australia-declares-state-disaster-bushfires.html

Via The American Pamphleteer: While Trump Speaks Tonight, Here’s How YOU Can Counter the Damage in Real Time -- The American people are not their government, and we have the power to prove that with our actions.
https://ladylibertie.substack.com/p/the-trump-vance-oval-office-disaster

#StateOfDisaster #NotInMyName

Via The American Pamphleteer: While Trump Speaks Tonight, Here’s How YOU Can Counter the Damage in Real Time -- The American people are not their government, and we have the power to prove that with our actions.
https://ladylibertie.substack.com/p/the-trump-vance-oval-office-disaster

#StateOfDisaster #NotInMyName

#notinmyname #stateofdisaster #resist #resistfascism

https://open.substack.com/pub/ladylibertie/p/the-trump-vance-oval-office-disaster

Interesting view from Piere de Vos (@[email protected]) on the intended #stateofdisaster that is being explored with regards to #loadshedding and #eskom.

Basically he says it's either an act of desperation or a cynical public relations exercise.

https://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/the-mooted-national-state-of-disaster-anc-desperation-or-cynical-public-relations-exercise/

The absurdity of declaring a state of disaster
https://dailyfriend.co.za/2023/02/07/the-absurdity-of-declaring-a-state-of-disaster/

(My column today, now with answers to comments, including a few smackdowns of apartheid apologists.)

#SouthAfrica #CyrilRamaphosa #StateOfDisaster #Eskom #ElectricityCrisis

Reshuffle: NDZ could escape axe
https://www.news24.com/citypress/politics/reshuffle-ndz-could-escape-axe-20230205 (paywall)
"Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma might spearhead the proposed state of disaster."

(Doesn't this give you warm fuzzy feelings of optimism about Squirrel's new cabinet? Outrageous.)

#SouthAfrica #CabinetReshuffle #CyrilRamaphosa #NDZ #NkosazanaDlaminiZuma #StateOfDisaster

What does VIC #StateOfDisaster mean?

Minister now has power to:
* direct government agencies
* suspend Acts or regulations
* commandeer any property
* control movement into and within, and departure from the disaster area
* compel evacuations from the disaster area