Mallacoota Wharf after the devastating fires began. Twitter/@bluesfestblues Source / Twitter
Mallacoota Wharf after the devastating fires began. Twitter/@bluesfestblues Source / Twitter
Dramatic and heartbreaking before-and-after photos are emerging which show the towns gutted and ripped apart by Australia horror bush fires.
Every year tourists flock to Cobargo, Batemans Bay, Mallacoota and other beach towns searching for a slice of paradise on the Australian coast.
Now those idyllic towns have been transformed into apocalyptic scenes as the nation's devastating bush fires closed in with confirmation of at least two lives lost and other people unaccounted for. Homes have been razed and main streets destroyed.
Dramatic and heartbreaking before-and-after photos are also starting to emerge which reveal the true horror wrought by the blaze.
Cobargo – a village in southeast New South Wales with a population of just 776 people – is one of many Aussie towns affected by the fire crisis.
Robert Selway, 63, and his 29-year-old son Patrick died when they stayed behind to defend their Wandella home, close to Cobargo, from the Badja Forest Rd fire, police said.
Reportedly, Robert's wife found their bodies when she returned to the property this morning.
Photos of Cobargo's main street before and after the fires swept through the town show the extent of the damage, with social media users sharing snaps of the quaint and historic main street that has now been "completely destroyed".
The popular NSW South Coast area has also been seriously affected by the fires, with pictures shared on social media revealing an eerie, blackened sky as smoke enveloped the communities of Batemans Bay, Merimbula, Corrigans Beach and many other regions.
Homes are now believed to have been lost with tourists and locals alike fleeing to the beach in a bid to avoid the flames.
