By Leonie Thorne Updated February 12, 2017 16:20:34 Much of Queensland and New South Wales is sweltering through the tail end of a horrific heatwave. But in Birdsville, which was forecast to hit 47 degrees Celsius today, the afternoon temperature has not dipped below 41C since Australia Day. “People are out and about doing normal activities — they’re tough out here,” said the manager of the Birdsville Hotel, Ben Fullagar. “I think people have just acclimatised to it, we get this every year.” To cope with the heat, Birdsville locals will be at Pelican Point Billabong, the local pool, or staying indoors with the air-conditioning blasting. Birdsville officer in charge, Senior Constable Stephen Pursell, said there had been a long run of hot days but no bad heat-related incidents to report. “People in town know what to do, people know how to keep cool and not to move around too much,” he said. “Being a small town, everyone keeps an eye on each other.” The small town is surrounded by hundreds of kilometres of dirt. During summer, the nearby Simpson Desert Park is closed to tourists, as if a car were to break down days could pass before another person comes along to help. “Normally there’s people coming back and forth but [during summer] we don’t want people going out there,” said Senior Constable Pursell. “Cars have aircons and people have mini fridges, but if something goes wrong … the heat’s too extreme. You won’t survive out there.” Mr Fullagar…more detail
