Three major wildfires that broke out in the Florida Panhandle last week have burned more than 29.000 acres and threatens neighboring communities in dry, windy weather, authorities announced Tuesday.

Firefighters hope a light, steady rain in the Florida panhandle will help ease three wildfires which have threatened homes and prompted hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes.

The flames – commonly referred to as “Chipola Complex”- are being fed by dead trees and other vegetation left by Hurricane Michael in 2018, authorities said.

The hurricane directly caused around 16 deaths and $25 billion in damage in the US.

The rain should enable firefighters to access unsafe areas so they can plow containment lines around three conflagrations, fire officials said.

Over the weekend, residents were evacuated from 1.100 homes in Bay County but more than half of them were permitted to return to their homes by Monday.

So far, only two houses have been destroyed and a further dozen damaged, with the damage taking place last Friday.

The fire causing the damage, the 355-hectare Adkins Avenue fire, was 85 per cent contained on Wednesday, firefighters said.



Florida

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Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, (wikipedia)


Hurricane Michael

Hurricane Michael was a very powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. Additionally, (wikipedia)