Australia Resilience System Working Group

Australia's second-largest city ends 111-day virus lockdown MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Coffee business owner Darren Silverman pulled his van over and wept when he heard on the radio that Melbourne’s pandemic lockdown would be largely lifted on Wednesday... AP NEWS

According to the Victoria state government the lockdown changes will allow 6,200 retail stores, 5,800 cafés and restaurants, 1,000 beauty salons and 800 pubs to reopen, impacting 180,000 jobs.

ADELAIDE HILLS - MFS fire crews fight a bushfire on Wattle Road in Kersbrook, on January 2, 2015 in Adelaide Hills, Australia. (Photo by Campbell Brodie/Newspix/Getty Images)

cnn.com - by Leah Asmelash - January 12, 2020

The fires in Australia have been burning for months, consuming nearly 18 million acres of land, causing thousands to evacuate and killing potentially millions of animals . . .

 . . . The Australian state of New South Wales, where both Sydney and Canberra are located, declared a state of emergency this week, as worsening weather conditions could lead to even greater fire danger.

But a 50,000-year-old solution could exist: Aboriginal burning practices.

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A man helping strangers remove flood-damaged items from their home in a suburb of Townsville, in the Australian state of Queensland, on Thursday.  Credit Dan Peled/EPA, via Shutterstock

nytimes.com - by Livia Albeck-Ripka - February 7, 2019

. . . Community support is the biggest predictor of how well people recover from disasters, “over and above the horrors of the trauma” . . .

As climate change makes it likely that disasters will become more intense and frequent, researchers are studying how communities respond, and what they need to be resilient. Being part of a community response can be “protective” . . .

. . . the real danger zone is six to 12 months after a disaster strikes. It is then, experts agree, when the news coverage fades and others seem to move on, that residents who are still struggling with practical issues, like insurance claims, and emotional trauma, can feel abandoned.

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