SYDNEY -- Orange skies, falling ash, smoke creeping into lungs, mobile phones pinging "fires near me" warnings, people seeking shelter on beaches as infernos rage inland -- these memories are rushing back as Australians brace for a possible repeat of the disastrous 2019-2020 "Black Summer" of bushfires.
The Australian summer is still three months away, but in the hard-hit state of New South Wales, Rural Fire Services chief Rob Rogers has already warned residents to update their survival plans. Professor David Bowman, a bushfire expert, says he cannot dismiss the possibility of another bad season despite the heavy rains and floods that broke a long drought across much of the nation earlier this year.
