ISU’s athlete’s home is devastated

Photo courtesy to ISU 

NORMAL, Ill.- Australia has seen some on the most ravaged wildfires since late July of this year.

Dozens of fires erupted in New South Wales, Australia, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in November 2019. Fires rapidly spread across all states to become some of the most devastating on record. 

All of this has been due to the constant heat and drought because of the pyro-cumulonimbus clouds.

These clouds cause rainfall to be halted, and act as a shield to any precipitation.

However, ISU men’s golf athlete Joel Durnford  made a trip home to Australia and shared his heartbreak.

“I mean it is devastating. Most of the fires were happening when I was home, and to actually get the first-hand experience on what all of it looked like was just devastating.”

Durnford expanded on what his most recent trip was like and what the devastation means for those in Australia now.

“A lot of the fires were put out, we were actually quite fortunate to get a lot of rain. However, it eventually has turned into floods and we are going from one disaster to another.”

With the flooding, Australia in running into a problem of keeping the ash and debris out of the water supply.

According to National Geographic, “One of the biggest worries is that the sudden influx of nutrients into waterways may lead to ‘blackwater events’ caused by blooms of blue-green algae, also called cyanobacteria.”

“Oxygen can subsequently drop to dangerously low levels for other aquatic life, potentially leading to mass fish kills and affecting species such as freshwater turtles.”

Durnford said there are continuing efforts from all over the world to relief the devastation.