It has been chaos in Alice Patten's South Coast home since bushfires started impacting the region on New Year's Eve.

She opened the doors of her place in Dalmeny, north of Narooma, to her large family who had been visiting the region from Sydney and Victoria.

Now her house on top of a hill is packed to the rafters.

"I've got 17 people at home — a loaf of bread don't bounce," Ms Patten said.

"You do your best to make it all spread out.

A small fraction of the 17 people currently staying in Alice Patten's house in Dalmeny. ( ABC News: Tim Swanston )

"There goes all the healthy styles, I've bumped into some my mates and they say 'when are you getting back to the gym?'.

"I go, 'I don't know! I'm eating white bread like it's going out of fashion!'"

Narooma, and the small towns around it, have had huge bushfires burning to the north and south.

Alice's mum Sandra Patten keeps on top of the dishes in the kitchen. ( ABC News: Tim Swanston )

Trucks bringing in food supplies are cut off, so too, fuel trucks — and there is no indication on when they might arrive.

At a community meeting held yesterday, locals were told to be patient.

Word spread around town that the local supermarket was open, and there was a rush on it.

Police guard the outside of the Narooma supermarket after a rush on it. ( ABC News: Jonathan Hair )

Ms Patten lined up for two hours to buy her supplies and bring them back to the 17 people at home.

"We had some extras for the first night so that took us up to 19 (people)," she said.

"It has been challenging too because everyone's used to their own space and we have children with disabilities as well.

"We have some elders thrown into the mix … so we've got a combination," she said.

Adding to the stress, her husband and one of her children are stuck in Lakes Entrance, cut off by the Victorian fires.

Alice Patten waited in line for two hours to buy supplies. ( ABC News: Jonathan Hair )

Ms Patten's mum Sandra Patten has concerns about what the children in the region have experienced since the fires started.

"We're counting our blessings with what we have and what we haven't lost, it's just traumatic for the kids," she said.

"Everyone I've spoken to around Dalmeny, neighbours, their emotions are very high, people are crying.

And food doesn't last long when there's many mouths to feed.

"We understand there's not enough fresh food to go around so we do what we do," Sandra Patten said.

"As Aboriginal people, we do that quite productively, we take advantage of what's in the ocean, we can do some of our traditional foods.

"But we're praying that the roads will be open sooner than later."

Michael and Nora from nearby Kianga spent Saturday night sleeping in their car. ( ABC News: Jonathan Hair )

Michael and Nora from the nearby Kianga spent Saturday night sleeping in their car on a headland near Narooma.

"The worry here is that the place is going to run out of food," Michael said.

"If people weren't stocked up or weren't in a position to have extra food, that's going to be a real issue.

"Woolworths hasn't been open here since New Year's Eve."