06 September 2011

AUSTIN, TEXAS : 8 Sept UPDATE : 30% Contained Fire Destroys 1,400 Homes, Kills 2...In Bastrop.

                                          REUTERS

     It's not often that Austin and central Texas make the international news.
     Last time...an angry, crazed pilot crashed his small plane into a building housing the government's tax agency, the IRS.
     But our ongoing severe drought...no significant rain since last October...but a record setting...80 days...of 100F/39C heat...is starting to reap what nature has sown...from parched soil and dying trees.
     Burning homes. Plenty of them.
     At least 35,000 acres/14,100 hectares and 1,300 homes consumed so far...in the distant suburbs of Bastrop county...and only 30% contained.
      The fire is still roaring thru the area famous for its pine trees. It measures 24 miles/39km long...and 20 miles wide.
     Two are now reported dead. 
     At least 5,000 people still evacuated.
     There are smoke warnings on all our major highways.
     With at least 5 other areas around Austin still burning...or having just beaten down the flames.