Recovery operations in communities on the New South Wales south coast are getting underway in earnest this week as the country continues to count the cost of the bushfire crisis.

Key points: Recovery coordinators have begun organising the rebuild of fire-ravaged communities

Recovery coordinators have begun organising the rebuild of fire-ravaged communities Tourists are being told they can return to towns on NSW south coast but must remain vigilant

Tourists are being told they can return to towns on NSW south coast but must remain vigilant Residents impacted by fire have been reminded to not be afraid to ask for assistance

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has appointed recovery coordinators in bushfire impacted regions to streamline communication between the various levels of government and other relief agencies.

The southern NSW recovery coordinator, Dick Adams, described the task ahead as the largest disaster recovery operation in Australia's history.

More than 2,000 homes have been destroyed and hundreds more have been damaged across the state since the start of the fire season.

Former fleet air commander, Vince Di Pietro, has been appointed as recovery coordinator for the Shoalhaven region on the NSW south coast.

The Currowan fire tore through the Princes Highway south of Nowra. ( ABC Illawarra: Tim Fernandez )

He has been tasked with the complex task of overseeing the rebuilding of communities in a region where almost everyone has been impacted by fire.

"About 80 per cent of the land area of the Shoalhaven has been impacted or burned in some way," Mr Di Pietro said.

"Although we're not the worst hit in terms of damage to property, we're certainly up there, with 280 houses destroyed and many more damaged by fire."

Mr Di Pietro said he had been given four main areas to focus on during the recovery phase including infrastructure, social, environmental, and economic impacts.

He had been tasked with determining: "What buildings need to be recovered, how we carry out impact assessments, and how quickly the damage needs to be repaired," he said.

"The social aspect: how people have been affected, especially Indigenous communities considering the Shoalhaven's rich Indigenous population.

"How to manage the environment and repair the environmental damage, and finally, the economic impact and making sure we get back to business and normality as soon as we can."

Tourists return to boost local economies

Favourable conditions have allowed the Rural Fire Service (RFS) to give tourists the green light to return to these communities — an important step in rebuilding the seasonal economies.

They have been told to bring their wallets but to remain vigilant for the potential for conditions to change.

"The Shoalhaven is open for business — but there are limitations which need to be kept in mind when people start to come back to visit," Mr Di Pietro said.

Meanwhile, evacuation centres in Nowra and Ulladulla have been transitioned into recovery centres offering people in need access to services to get them back on their feet.

The mayor of the Shoalhaven, Amanda Findlay, said one of the hardest parts of the recovery stage would be making sure people know about what services are available to them.

"How many times have I heard people say, 'it's OK, there are people worse off than me," she said.

"Everything here is for you to make sure you're looked after and cared for so please come into the recovery centre.

"Whether you're a tenant that's lived in a house that's destroyed, or you're a home owner whose house has been impacted — please make yourselves known to the services so we can get you the help you need."

How to spend relief money?

Meanwhile decisions will also need to be made about the best way to use the $1.2 billion pledged by the Berijiklian Government and the $2 billion national fund set up by the Federal Government.

Residents directly impacted by the fires are entitled to a one-off Disaster Recovery Payment of $1,000 for adults or $400 for children.

Fire-affected councils have been given a $1 million cash injection for critical infrastructure repairs.

Houses in the Southern Highlands were destroyed by the Morton fire. ( ABC Illawarra: Tim Fernandez )

In the NSW Southern Highlands, where around 45 homes have been destroyed, the money will go towards repairing damaged roads and cleaning up rubbish and debris.

"It will allow us to remove the fallen trees around Balmoral and help manage the amount of rubbish created by the fire in Wingello, Penrose, Bundanoon and Exeter — they're all in the same boat," Wingecarribee Mayor Duncan Gair said.

"But in the southern communities [of the South Coast] who lost hundreds of homes, a million dollars will only skim the surface down there."

Mayor Findlay said the money would help but ultimately the community needed to come forward and ask for help and be part of the rebuilding process.

"Council will be using the money to get all those essential things up and running and return to normal," she said.

"The number one priority right now is the people — if people see something that does need to be done let council know."