Bushfires raging on the outskirts of Perth in Western Australia have destroyed at least forty homes and damaged about twenty others. Firefighters are battling two blazes to the east and north of the city. High flames are being fanned by winds of up to 70 kilometers an hour. Hundreds of people have left their homes. The blazes come two years after 173 people died in bushfires that swept through the southern state of Victoria, causing widespread devastation. The fires near Perth follow major flooding in Queensland and Victoria. Towns on the north-east coast of the country are continuing to clean up after last week's Cyclone Yasi.