Rain has started pouring down on Australia — bringing some much-needed relief to areas of the country ravaged by bushfires and drought, local reports said.
Melbourne residents praised the rain as thunderstorms hit the Victoria capital on Wednesday.
Most of the fire-ravaged state of New South Wales also started to receive rain early Wednesday, news.com.au reported. Forecasters indicate that rain will continue through the weekend.
“The hit & miss nature of #thunderstorms means it’s difficult to forecast exactly where the heaviest rain will be,” the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia tweeted.
“Some parts of #bushfire & #drought affected eastern Australia could see [about 2 to 4 inches] over the next few days; while others may see very little.”
The rains will not put out all the fires but will bring relief for firefighters battling the blazes, The Washington Post reported.
A second weather system will form, triggering supercell storms over the states of Victoria, South Australia and western New South Wales, further benefiting the country’s east coast.
“All weather models are in agreement that NSW is finally in for some relief with a widespread storm outbreak with the potential for some very good falls,” NWS Incident Alerts posted on Facebook. “These rainfall accumulations are expected over the course of the next 10 days.”
Meanwhile, the New South Wales government is working on addressing new challenges the rain will bring — including damaging gusts of wind, flash flooding and ash and debris in water supplies, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“Heavy rainfall and gusty thunderstorms bring the potential for flash flooding, particularly in the burnt-out areas of NSW and Victoria which are now vulnerable for landslips and trees coming down,” meteorologist Sarah Scully said, according to the Morning Herald.
The fires have been wreaking havoc across Australia since September — so far killing 28 people, killing or imperiling more than 1 billion animals, destroying 2,000 homes and burning more than 25.5 million acres of land, Fox News reported.
Rescuers have worked to save wildlife by dropping carrots as celebrities pledge large donations to help with fire relief efforts.