Second town on Kangaroo Island evacuated

A second town on Australia's Kangaroo Island has been evacuated as fire crews deal with flare-ups and new blazes on Thursday. Parndana residents have been told to leave amid severe bushfire conditions and deteriorating weather on Thursday. A total fire ban has been declared across the island as temperatures and winds rise, adding to the fire risk.

As a precaution, police and the Country Fire Service also evacuated Vivonne Bay on the south coast amid fears that homes could not be protected if fires move quickly into the area.

The unprecedented fire crisis in southeast Australia that has claimed at least 26 lives since September, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland has focused many Australians on how the nation adapts to climate change.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has come under withering criticism both at home and abroad for downplaying the need for his government to address climate change, which experts say helps supercharge the blazes.

Last year was Australia's hottest and driest on record.

(Picture Credit: AP)