GOSFORD, Australia — More than two-dozen people and hundreds of millions of animals have died in brushfires that continue to burn in Australia.
- Family who lived in Central Fla. witnessing devastation from brush fires
- Elisha Wenner says the fires are the worst any locals can remember
- Wenner says she's worried about family's safety
One family with ties to Central Florida live in Australia and have seen some of the devastation firsthand.
It’s been a frightening two months for Elisha Wenner’s family.
“We even had the kids waking up at night afraid our house was on fire,” Wenner said.
That’s how thick the smoke’s been outside Wenner’s home in Gosford, a city about an hour north of Sydney – on Australia’s Eastern coast.
“The smell would just, even with the house closed up, you could just smell smoke – it was so thick. My 3-year-old Zahli would say, ‘mommy, mommy, my eyes are burning,’” she said.
Wenner’s husband, Zach, grew up in Central Florida. And Elisha Wenner lived in Brevard County for a couple of years, but she’s from Australia originally.
She equates huge brushfires there to hurricanes here in Florida. Wenner says they do happen, but she says the recent fires are the worst any locals can remember. She says the loss of life, including an estimated 30 percent of the country’s cherished koalas, is devastating to think about.
Wenner says luckily the area her family lives in just got some rain, and the fire threat and thick smoke have subsided in that area for now.
“I think our prayers have been answered, because we were not due to have rain for a very long time,” Wenner said.
Wenner says she’s thankful for all of the help and prayers from back home, and from people across the world. Her family is helping out a farming family who lost everything in the fires.
“It was literally the best Christmas we’ve ever had, because it wasn’t focused around presents. The kids still got a few little things, but I think keep that focus of others is important, especially when people are going through hard times,” Wenner said.
But fires are still burning in much of the country, and Wenner worries about her family’s safety with several more months of summer still to go.
“We’re in for a long haul,” Wenner said.
To see which organizations are helping Australia, visit this website.