Bushfire and Flood

It looks like that the beginning of 2009 is not peaceful for Australia. Flood in northern Queensland and severe bushfire in Victoria. May God bless Australia.

Information from wiki:
Bushfire: A bushfire is a fire that occurs in the bush (collective term for scrub, woodland or grassland of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia). In south east Australia, bushfires tend to be most common and most severe during summer and autumn, in drought years, and particularly severe in El Niño years. Subsequently south east Australia is considered one of the most fire prone areas of the world. In the north of Australia, bushfires usually occur during winter (the dry season), and fire severity tends to be more associated with seasonal weather patterns. In the southwest, similarly, bushfires occur in the summer dry season and severity is usually related to seasonal growth. Fire frequency in the north is difficult to assess, as the vast majority of fires are caused by human activity, however lightning strikes are as common a cause as human ignited fires and arson.

The February 2009 Victorian bushfires are a series of at least 31 bushfires across the Australian state of Victoria, resulting in at least 135 deaths and caused major property damage, destroying at least 750 homes, mostly in Kinglake and surrounding areas and up to 330,000 ha of property. The fires are the deadliest natural disaster in Australia's recorded history. They occurred during an exceptional heat wave, and began on Saturday 7 February, a day when several localities across the state, including the state capital of Melbourne, recorded their highest temperatures since records began over 150 years previously. The numerous fires are largely the result of recent lightning strikes, although some are suspected to have been deliberately lit by arsonists — Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described them as "mass murder."