BUSHFIRES have devastated communities across Victoria and NSW, with over 80 homes believed to be destroyed.

Up to 70 homes and a school are feared lost in a disastrous bushfire that enveloped the NSW south-coast town of Tathra.

NSW Police have urged people around Tathra and Bega to stay away from fire-affected grounds, saying residents will be advised “as soon as possible” when they can return to their homes.

Earlier this morning, Rural Fire Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said there were 20 fires burning across the state, with five still uncontained.

“It was raining fire embers through the township — there were spot fires starting all throughout the streets of the town,” he told 2GB Radio.

No lives are believed to be lost.

Local gathered overnight in an evacuation centre, not knowing what will be left for them in the morning.

Communication was hampered when a mobile phone tower collapsed, making it difficult to determine how many people remained in the town.

Observing an aerial monitor of the wreckage this morning, Tathra residents Bev and Val told Sunrise they believed their house had been destroyed.

“I got evacuated three times,” said Val. “I got told to leave Thompson’s... went to a friend on the street in Tathra, got told to leave there... went down to the beach and got told to come here.”

“It’s very strange,” said Bev. “It doesn’t seem real just yet.

“It probably would have helped if we had mobile phone coverage,” she added. “But apparently we don’t deserve mobile phone coverage.”

“I don’t think we’ve got much chance” - evacuated #Tathra locals react to our LIVE chopper footage of the #Bushfires devastation in their town. pic.twitter.com/jxXQALsRdf — Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 18, 2018

Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters are tackling bush and grass blazes in Victoria’s southwest today, after homes and farm buildings were engulfed in flames over the weekend.

Victorians ran for their lives as the biggest fires of the season destroyed at least 18 homes and left livestock dead across the state’s southwest.

Last night our Air Wing was at the Terang fires where they caught this image. The bright light coming in from bottom left corner is their searchlight (a Nitesun). Our thoughts are with all those affected and we'd like to thank all emergency services who helped over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/eSCsdehgsr — Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) March 18, 2018

Around a dozen homes were destroyed by fires across the state and hundreds of beef and dairy cattle killed.

40,000ha were burnt out and hundreds of people were evacuated, the Herald Sun reported.

Emergency Management Commissioner of Victoria Craig Lapsley said the main danger had passed, with the focus now turning to the communities affected.

NSW FIRES

It’s now feared up to 70 homes, including a popular caravan park, were damaged or destroyed by the blaze in the NSW seaside town of Tathra.

The NSW Rural Fire Service on Sunday afternoon issued an emergency warning after the fire crossed the Bega River in the state’s southeast and headed towards properties around Thompson Drive.

Caretaker Peter Coulton told The Daily Telegraph the evacuation centre was “completely packed”.

“They’re all in tears, they have lost everything,” he said.

Insurers have declared the event a “catastrophe”, The Daily Telegraph reported.

A mobile phone tower also went down, leaving it difficult to determine how many people remained in the town.

So far there have been no reports of any people injured or killed in the out-of-control bushfires.

“We are hearing several dozen properties (have been lost in Tathra),” Insurance Council of Australia’s communications director Campbell Fuller said.

“Because a catastrophe had been declared it ensures prioritised claims from losses caused by these bushfires and those claims are also triaged so those with the most need received the promptest attention.”

Today has been a dangerous and difficult day. At 8pm there was 26 bush and grass fires, with 12 uncontained. The fire at Tathra is at Emergency Warning. Crews are still working to extinguish homes which are alight. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/iOBsdjIlmY — NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) 18 March 2018

The fire — which started in Tarraganga, southwest of Bega — was being fanned by strong and gusty north-westerly winds.

Total fire bans were issued for more than half of NSW on Sunday including the Greater Sydney region given the hot and windy conditions. Twelve of the state’s 21 regions are experiencing severe fire conditions.

Assessment teams are today expected to inspect properties and confirm the damage.

Temperatures soared to 38C at 3pm in Sydney’s CBD yesterday while further west at Penrith they reached 38.2C.

In Bega the mercury hit 38.4C at 3pm, while at Goulburn it was slightly cooler at 33C.

While firefighters and residents have saved many homes in #Tathra, a number have been destroyed. The exact number won't be known for some time when Building Impact Assessment teams can get into the area. The fire has burnt right to the coast under strong winds. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/CARce7Ok2m — NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) March 18, 2018

HORROR WEATHER CONDITIONS

Almost 300 firefighters battled the blazes yesterday, with 29 aircraft also deployed to help out.

Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley says firefighters are doing an exceptional job on the ground and in the air. amid fears of worsening weather conditions.

“We could see dry lightning and thunderstorms ... across Victoria (Sunday afternoon),” he said.

Strong winds continue throughout Victoria, and the erratic weather could start more fires, or make the firefighting effort more difficult.

“We’re outside summer and we’re going into a summer-type bushfire scenario for two days,” Lapsley said.

It’s believed lightning strikes could have started some of the blazes, and could spark more.

And 22,000 properties are without power across the state, due mainly to strong winds bringing lines down.

CLUSTER OF FIRES

There were four major fires burning, the worst being a huge blaze at Terang, which was threatening the town of Cobden.

Relief centres were set up at Warnambool, Hamilton, Colac, Camperdown, Port Campbell and Cobden.

Corangamite Shire Mayor Jo Beard, which covers Cobden, told 774 ABC Melbourne that the fires took them by surprise and that a lot of houses and sheds had been lost.

She had heard stories that people had to “hunker down in dairies” to escape the fire.

Firefighters battling the fires through the night were unable to save a power substation at Terang on Saturday night.

Total fire bans have been declared for the Central and South West districts.

Premier Daniel Andrews said he was thinking of those affected and commended firefighters and emergency crews on their efforts.

“The greatest challenge in terms of firefighting is to have a significant fire that runs hard throughout the night,” Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday. “That’s exactly what’s occurred in these locations overnight.”

WEDDING EVACUATED

Elle Moyle was hosting a wedding at her property at Gazette, north of Warrnambool, when the fire came incredibly close on Saturday night.

“Then it was licking at the door very quickly,” she told ABC radio.

“We were actually unfortunately hosting a wedding on our property, so we had to evacuate 150 people, which was a bit scary.”

— with Clarissa Bye, Sam McBeath and Ashleigh Gleeson