It began with a nightmare dawn on the beach in Mallacoota, and ended with winds whipping the fires towards Sydney. In between, thousands fled for their lives and at least two died

Daybreak never came to Mallacoota. By dawn on Tuesday the orange bushfire glow had disappeared from the horizon, replaced by a black shadow of smoke and ash that made early morning in the Victorian seaside town seem like midnight.

As massive swathes of the East Gippsland region burned, Mallacoota was one of the few areas where residents and holidaymakers had not been told to evacuate for their own safety. By the time the fire arrived on Monday, it was too late for many of them to leave.

Amid the darkness, there was chaos. A stampede towards the town’s foreshore where thousands stood and huddled and watched the black sky turn red. As traffic banked up, people abandoned their cars and ran towards the water.

Mallacoota fire: images of 'mayhem' and 'armageddon' as bushfires rage Read more

Soon after, emergency sirens from firefighting tankers heralded a further warning. Get in the water. Those who could scrambled onto boats. Others hugged the shoreline or waded in.

Nicole Asher (@Nic_Asher) This is the situation in Mallacoota at the moment. A mother and her kids are sheltering in their boat on the water. People are reporting the sound of gas bottles exploding in town and quite a few homes have been burnt. @abcmelbourne #gippsnews #gippslandfires pic.twitter.com/XhS5SVvgqX

“It’s mayhem out there, it’s armageddon,” Charles Livingstone told Guardian Australia on Tuesday morning from a community centre where hundreds more had taken shelter.

“The other issue is how the hell we’re all going to get out of here – there’s one road in and one road out.”

bluesfestblues (@bluesfestblues) 10:30am update from Dad at the wharf in Mallacoota - “fire front not far away” #Mallacoota #bushfirecrisis pic.twitter.com/MvgeiZqujM

Bureau of Meteorology data showed the temperature at Mallacoota reaching 49C at 8am.

Grim news

Mallacoota was only the first of what became a litany of towns devastated by the fires as the carnage spread up the New South Wales coast and to tiny inland villages.

Further west, in the East Gippsland region where residents had been warned to evacuate on Sunday, ominous images showed towns such as Sarsfield had lost numerous properties.

Louis Gillett (@LouGillettWIN) This video from my in-laws on the Great Alpine Road showing the devastation caused in Sarsfield, on the outskirts of Bairnsdale. @WINNews_Gip #gippsnews pic.twitter.com/xUmyBaMzAK

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A burnt-out house in Sarsfield, Victoria. Photograph: James Ross/EPA

The far south coast of New South Wales was next to experience the full force of a shocking day, as clear skies turned to a frightening black within a couple of hours.

Gavin Coote (@GavinCoote) The two hour time difference at the Bega Showgrounds. Incredible pics of the evacuation centre at 10 am, then 12pm today by @adrianereardon #nswfires pic.twitter.com/Z99jv5cOrS

Residents of Bermagui were also forced to flee to the beach. And a few kilometres inland, horror was unfolding in the tiny village of Cobargo, where by mid-morning images began to seep out revealing that a good part of the main street had been entirely destroyed.

NicoleSmith1788 (@NicoleSmith1788) I have friends across the coast in Evac centres. My bridesmaid and best friend has had her hometown of Cobargo burnt out. Horrific photos coming in. The whole of Australia is thinking and praying for you guys 🙏 #AustralianFires pic.twitter.com/09ayNWMT8i

The news turned even grimmer when it transpired that two men – reportedly a father and son – had died trying to defend their property in the town in the early hours of the morning.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cobargo before and after the New Year’s Eve bushfires. Composite: Google Maps/Twitter

A local resident, Brenda Whiffen, told the ABC the fire came through about 1am.

“We came outside and you could see the red glow, but you could hear it roaring, that was the scary bit. You could hear it roaring like the ocean,” she said.

Next in the firing line was Batemans Bay, one of the larger towns on the NSW south coast, where fire encircled residents and holidaymakers, forcing them into evacuation centres and to the town’s beaches.

Charlotte Meredith (@chmeredith) Update from Batemans Bay where everyone has evacuated to Corrigan’s beach.#bushfires #bushfiresNSW #NSWfires #AustralianFires pic.twitter.com/rt2WjCltrr

Alastair Prior (@alastairprior) Evacuation on the beach at #batemansbay @abcnews pic.twitter.com/qZzOJcOKz1

“It’s dark, there’s no power. Apocalyptic is the word,” Batemans Bay cafe owner Dennis Price told Guardian Australia as the town centre was evacuated.

“There’s lot of smoke. Every store that I know of is shut. There’s been a couple of explosions, I think it might be gas bottles but I can’t be sure about that.”

'We've lost our beautiful town': Mogo residents flee as bushfire rages up NSW south coast Read more

A few kilometres south at Mogo, a goldrush village, the fire front came through in the late morning. Staff at the Mogo zoo took desperate measures to save animals, bringing many of them inside to shelter.

“Right now in my house there’s animals of all description in all the different rooms,” the zoo’s director, Chad Staples, said.

“A couple of hours ago it felt like armageddon here. It was as black as midnight with tinges of red. It was like we were fighting fires in the darkness.”

In the village centre, leather shop owner Lorena Granados spent most of the morning attempting to save the building. Eventually she and her family members were forced to flee, as the flames became overpowering and tore through several buildings and homes.

“It felt like we were in a war zone,” Granados said. “Of what I’m aware three people have already lost their homes ... we fought the flames, the flames were on top of us. When we left we were basically on fire, we had to leave.

“We couldn’t breathe. We couldn’t see. The flames were just ferocious, they were furious, they were angry. There was nothing we could do, we had to pretty much save ourselves.”

Fresh crisis

Suddenly, in mid-afternoon, a fresh crisis blew up much further north, when spot fires from the Currowan blaze cut the Pacific Highway near Sussex Inlet, sending smoke billowing over the small settlements around Jervis Bay.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flames cross the Princes Highway at Sussex Inlet, New South Wales. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Like the far south coast communities before them, residents found themselves plunged into pitch darkness in the middle of a summer’s day.

Ainslie DrewittSmith (@AinslieClaire) The northern bank of the Shoalhaven River at North Nowra. It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon. This is surreal. pic.twitter.com/4r5cb7kRH0

As fierce winds whipped up the coast in the evening, the Bureau of Meteorology sent out a warning to the thousands of people lining Sydney harbour to watch the city’s much-debated New Year’s Eve fireworks display, even as an emergency alert was issued for a fire in the western suburb of Greystanes.

Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) Urgent update for #NewYears revellers Strong #winds are making their way up the #NSW coast & are reaching #Sydney area. Winds are part of the forecast southerly change sweeping the coast & people on or around the harbour should take care https://t.co/LgWZw03awp @nswpolice #SydNYE pic.twitter.com/8egOucioHM

The NSW rural fire commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, said late on Tuesday it was “one of the worst, if not the worst fire season we have experienced”.

Back at Mallacoota, firefighters managed to beat the bushfire back at the town precipice. Shortly before 4pm a cheer went up at the foreshore, as word spread that the immediate threat was over; a wind change had pushed the blaze in another direction.

But everyone in the town, along with others in East Gippsland and some on the New South Wales coast, remained hemmed in by the fire front, unable to leave.

Late on Tuesday it was announced that all telecommunications would be cut for the whole of the NSW coast between Nowra and Moruya, for up to 24 hours. The defence minister, Linda Reynolds, said helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and naval vessels would be deployed to supply, and potentally evacuate, those trapped on the Victorian coast.

As night fell, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, could not bring himself to wish his state a happy new year. Instead he offered the same greeting that thousands of other Australians had exchanged throughout a harrowing day: stay safe.