EDEN: A global appeal to help Australian firefighters tackling catastrophic bushfires raised almost Aus$25 million ($17m) on Sunday, as swathes of the country suffered extensive damage and the death toll from the long-running crisis hit 24.

East coast seaside towns were plunged into darkness, ash rained down on rural communities and major cities were again cloaked in choking smoke, even as stunned Australians tried to regroup amid a wave of cooler air and light rain.

The weekend marked some of the worst days in the country’s deadly bushfire crisis, with hundreds more properties destroyed and the overall death toll climbing to 24, including a man who died on Saturday trying to save a friend’s home.

Comedian Celeste Barber used her international social media fame to launch a Facebook fundraiser for firefighters that almost reached its Aus$25m target in just two days with donations from all over the globe.

American pop star Pink said she would donate $500,000 to the firefighters, a donation matched by Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

World number one Ash Barty pledged to handover all her winnings from this week’s Brisbane International tennis tournament — potentially $250,000 — to the Red Cross.

Around 200 fires continued to burn on Sunday, many out of control, although only a handful prompted emergency warnings as temperatures dipped.

Everywhere, millions of beleaguered residents struggled to come to grips with a catastrophe that has taken place on a near-continental scale, unfurled over months and altered daily life.

“We’re in uncharted territory,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. “We can’t pretend that this is something that we have experienced before. It’s not.” Authorities have struggled to keep pace with the severity of the crisis — which has now scorched an area almost the size of Ireland.

While bushfires are common in Australia’s dry summers, climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Saturday announced the largest military call-up in living memory, mobilising up to 3,000 reservists to assist exhausted volunteer firefighters.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2020