Several homes have reportedly been lost on the Sunshine Coast as Queensland’s bushfires emergency continues.

Hundreds of people were told to leave, or get ready to leave, communities threatened by bushfires on Monday amid unpredictable winds. But less than two hours after police declared an emergency situation at Peregian Springs and Peregian Beach on Monday night, there were media reports 10 homes had been lost.

Meanwhile, people in the small border town of Ballandean were warned to evacuate on Monday afternoon, with others taking to social media to describe the bushfire crisis as a “nightmare” that won’t end.

Ballandean is south of the towns of Stanthorpe and Applethorpe, where a fire that forced evacuations over the weekend has been contained.

That blaze is not threatening any homes but strong, dry winds are still making conditions volatile in the bone-dry countryside.

“We are confident we will be able to hold that, and if there are any outbreaks we will be able to get onto those very quickly,” acting Fire Commissioner Mike Wassing said.

An exclusion zone remains due to dangerous conditions near where at least eight structures including three homes were destroyed.

But some residents are starting to return to check the extent of the damage.

The Queensland emergency services minister, Craig Crawford, warned on Monday that the emergency was far from over.

“I think we are through the worst of it, but we still have a couple of days to go before it really starts to cool down,” he said.

There were more than 80 fires burning at one point on Monday and there are fire bans across most of the tinder-dry state.

The Gold Coast hinterland rainforest fire that has destroyed 11 homes was still causing pain.

Residents were advised to leave immediately on Monday night as fire approached Lamington National Park Road at O’Reilly, with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services warning it would soon be too dangerous to drive.

Residents in Lower Beechmont were also told that if they didn’t have a plan, their safest option was to leave as a fast-travelling fire approached.

Around 100 police, guests and staff who were sheltering at O’Reilly’s Guest House, at Canungra, were safely evacuated on Monday night.

The RSPCA has sent a vet to the Gold Coast to assess injured livestock, and the community is arranging fodder drops.

Some 20 properties have been destroyed and another 27 have been damaged since the bushfire crisis began on Thursday, including the historic Binna Burra Lodge.

The ruins of the lodge, one of the oldest nature-based resorts in Australia, are surrounded by blackened remnants of what used to be lush rainforest in the Lamington National Park

Fires are also burning north of Rockhampton, near Gympie and one west of Toowoomba, but no homes are under threat in those areas.

The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the situation a “catastrophe”, ensuring victims’ claims will be given priority.

The federal and state governments have promised assistance to those affected by the fires, including replenishing already dangerously low water supplies used to fight fires around Stanthorpe.

Meanwhile, police have warned anyone caught deliberately lighting fires face life imprisonment.

The warning came after a man was caught allegedly back-burning in extremely dangerous conditions near Rockhampton on Sunday, and the fire spread.

That same day some children lit a blaze at Pimpama on the Gold Coast. It was extinguished before it could cause any damage , police say.