On Sunday, photographerMary Voorwindetraveled through Kulnura — a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales — and captured bittersweet pictures of vibrant flowers sprouting through the blackened and burned region.
“With all that is lost in nature, there is hope of life again,” Voorwinde wrote in aFacebook post on Monday. “After a quick trip out to Kulnura today and talking to some of the locals… it was a humbling experience to visit their property and hear their stories.”
“They spoke of the brave firefighters and emergency service personnel who helped them through some of the most scariest times of their lives,” she continued. “Stories of sounds so loud and the intensity of heat and the [sheer] power and speed of the fire, lucky for them their house was saved, only just and very lucky.”
Voorwinde included a stunning image of a red and yellow plant growing from the trunk of a scorched tree.
“To [the locals], this image represents hope that nature is quickly back to work rebuilding, as are they,” Voorwinde added.
Voorwinde posted another set of images later that day that continued to show nature’s rebirth after the devastation the blazes have caused.
“Incredible to see the bush recovering after such terrible fires so quickly,” shewrote. “Eerie but beautiful all the same.”
According toToday, over 1 billion animals are feared dead due tothe country’s raging wildfires, which have been burning through the country since September.
“Armageddon is here. I can’t remember the last time it rained,” Fiona Crispin, a resident of Canberra, told theNew York Timesof the blazes. “Everything is dead and dried up. We miss the fresh air, watching the stars at night and hearing the magpies sing.”
At least 25 people have been killed while hundreds ofhomes and buildings were destroyed.
Bushfires destroy properties in the township of Hillville.Nick Moir/The Sydney Morning Herald/Getty
“Here and in other areas, the fire just went through and cleared everything in its way,” Stephen Muse of Canberra added to theTimes. “It was like a rocket going through. I dropped my phone on the ground and didn’t even have time to pick it up before screaming at my family to get in the car.”
According toUSA Today, dozens of firefighters from Canada and the U.S. were deployed to Australia to help fight the fires, which have destroyed over 12 million acres of land.
More than 70,000 people have evacuated fire-prone areas in the last week as the risk for spot fires is expected to increase on Friday, according toofficials.
“That’s why we’re again asking people in high-risk areas to leave ahead of time,” Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews explained. “I can’t stress this point enough. The fewer people we have there, the better for everyone.”
source: people.com
