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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Kirsten Lawson

Malua Bay hit, 'mayhem' in Batemans Bay

As South Coast residents and tourists struggle to work out what was lost in the bushfires, stories continue to emerge of homes, streets and villages devastated on Tuesday.

Townhouses off Sylvan Street, Malua Bay (behind Mimosa Place) destroyed in Wednesday's bushfire. Picture: Supplied

In Malua Bay, homes were lost in Sylvan Street and Mimosa Place and the Malua Bay Bowling Club in Sylvan Street is also gone.

Residents took shelter on the beach as the fire hit the town 15 minutes south of Batemans Bay on Tuesday.

Hannah, who doesn't want her surname published, and her family have a home in Mimosa Place, rented on Airbnb as Mimosa at the Bay, about 350 metres from the beach. She said the house was gone, as were townhouses behind and, according to her brother, the club 250 metres up the road.

Her mother lives at the house during the year and had lost everything, with no time to take any of her possessions as the fire approached, Hannah said.

A house in Mimosa Place Malua Bay destroyed in Wednesday's bushfire. Picture supplied by owner Hannah.

The bowling club, on a large section, has a restaurant and other facilities. No one from the club could be reached, but the club posted on its Facebook page that it had been in the line of fire and damaged. It would remain closed till damage could be assessed. All staff had been evacuated early on Tuesday and were safe, the post says.

A photo believed to be the remains of the Malua Bay club in Sylvan Street, Malua Bay. Photo taken and supplied by a local family.

Stories of businesses lost to the fires emerged up and down the coast, including main-street shops in Cobargo and Mogo.

Batemans Bay Business Chamber president Alison Miers said the community was in shock and in the dark, with patchy mobile phone coverage, no landlines, no computers and no access to email. She had heard the jewellery shop that she used to own in Mogo was gone.

While there was concern that Carroll College, a Catholic high school at Broulee had been hit, the Catholic Education Office said as of Tuesday evening the school was safe. Fire had come to within 150 metres but the school had been saved as far as the office could establish, a spokesperson said.

Businesses in the industrial park at Batemans Bay have been devastated.

"It's mayhem," Ms Miers said. "No-one can go anywhere. The roads are gridlocked. We are holed up and we have no information.

"I think everyone's in devastation mode. I just don't know where we go from here."

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The Coles supermarket opened on Wednesday but the queue was two hours long, Ms Miers said.

People were also queuing for fuel, but with computer lines down the fuel station was taking only cash so people were queuing only to find they couldn't pay for fuel.

"It's horrific, it's like a war zone. There's just no way to describe it," Ms Miers said. "We can't see 100 metres ahead."

Ms Miers, who runs a motel in Batemans Bay, said she had a full house and was trying to access food and supplies to keep people safe and comfortable.

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