About 4000 people in the fire-threatened Australian beach community of Mallacoota could be evacuated by sea on Thursday, as the Navy prepares to arrive in the area.
Planning began on Wednesday for an evacuation of the Victorian town, which has been threatened by the massive bush fires in the area. Mallcoota's centre has been saved, but many buildings on the outskirts have been burnt to a crisp.
Roughly 4000 people are currently sheltered on the beachfront of the community with blazes cutting off roads out of the town.
According to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), authorities are deciding who will be evacuated first as the country's Navy ship HMAS Choules is set to arrive offshore on Thursday. The ship could take about 1000 people at a time from the town.
A boat brought about 1.6 tonnes of water and diesel to the community on Wednesday while two Black Hawk helicopters have also flown to the region to bring in fresh firefighters. Six people were also flown out of the area due to respiratory issues.
The bush fires have destroyed towns and left thousands without homes across Australia. There are believed to be more than 40 fires in Victoria and 110 fires in New South Wales. The devastation has been described as apocalyptic by many affected, while images out of Mallacoota show people standing in the water below blood-red skies as the fires rage on.
There are reports that up to 18 people are feared dead from the colossal fires, with many others from rural settlements missing.
In NSW, many left without homes queued for hours on Wednesday to get food and other emergency supplies. Those on the state's South Coast near to the border with Victoria - which is close to why Mallacoota is located - are being told evacuate as fires more extreme than those which have already ravaged the region are expected.
"Widespread Extreme Fire Danger is forecast for the South Coast this Saturday January 4 2020," the NSW Rural Fire Service said on Thursday morning.
"These will be dangerous conditions, the same or worse than New Year's Eve."
Meanwhile, walls of flames surrounded Mogo Zoo near the border of NSW and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) on Wednesday, threatening its 200 exotic animals.
"It felt like Armageddon... we were just racing from every inch of the wildlife park making sure that no fires were able to take hold... we were putting out spot fires all the way through till 1.30am and we're back on it now," said zookeeper Chad Staples.
Clouds of dark smoke from the fires drifted across the Tasman sea to blanket parts of New Zealand's South Island on Wednesday, while Auckland saw a haze on Thursday that NIWA says can be attributed to the overseas blazes.
