I’m safe, but my town is not.My town has been absolutely devastated, with some even now still without power and reliable reception, as well as limited food and water — and still not much information on what’s going on.Please, if anyone in power reads this, PLEASE stop this from happening again.Focus on bushfire prevention, and better management of our national and state parks. Who is in danger now? Taste succulent Clyde River oysters from the farm gates of Pearly Oyster Bar and Farm and the Oyster Shed on Wray Street.Or you can enjoy fresh seafood at local restaurants, including JJ’s at The Marina, a waterfront eatery with outdoor seating.. Batemans Bay is a four-hour drive from Sydney and two hours from Canberra. Picture: Zoe SimmonsEven inside the cab with a towel over my mouth, I struggled to breathe.
That’s when she called me.“I’m scared, Aunty Zo,” my godson told me, his voice quivering.“It’s okay, buddy.
It is nice to be recognised but it was something that anyone would do in the same circumstances." It will be okay.”Of course, I didn’t know if any of that was true. "In Batemans Bay, bushfires engulfed the coastal community and its suburbs over New Year's Eve. All I could hear were sirens, and the cacophony of helicopters and planes dropping water all around us.The sky turned a furious deep red, and the wind howled with hot, thick smoke. Angry. I love you. I cannot imagine what the people closer to the fires felt.
The danger was elsewhere now.As a journalist, I kept my town updated the best I could with what was happening. Is Bree?But with no communication and no real information, we were flying blind.
Picture: InstagramMy sister Jacqui had been out for a walk with her two young kids and dogs when the worst hit.“We were waiting in line at Subway because it was the only thing open for food,” she told me.“One minute, the sky was blue and grey with a smoky haze. Since the start of July, at least 15 people have died and almost 1300 homes have been destroyed by bushfires in NSW alone. It was really a crisis that went on for months for us. Ms Facchin gave special mention to Professor Alison Jones, UOW's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Health and Communities), who organised for groceries to be delivered to the Batemans Bay campus in the days after the fires, when the staff were struggling to feed all the people they had taken in. This continued for many weeks, as the community started to pick up the pieces of the catastrophe, with internet and power out through large swathes of the region. But freaking out is the worst thing you can do in an emergency situation. We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism.
Firefighters in Batemans Bay. It will be okay,” I had to tell him.“You are in the middle of town, and they will protect you with everything they’ve got.
"In a true example of their community spirit, Ms Facchin and Ms Avitaia have decided to donate their prize money from the Vice-Chancellor's Special Award to helping the community through bushfire-related research.They will donate their joint $4000 winnings to UOW's Global Challenges Program, which earlier this year announced that half of their research grants will be set aside for disaster response on the South Coast.Sign up to receive our Breaking News Alerts and Editor's Daily Headlines featuring the best local news and stories.University of Wollongong trio Jaimey Facchin, Sam Avitaia and Nicola Bath were just doing what was needed to keep everyone safe.
In Batemans Bay, bushfires engulfed the coastal community and its suburbs over New Year's Eve. At the Batemans Bay Hanging Rock evacuation centre, hundreds of tourists and locals flooded in, huddled in cars with their pets and kids, hiding from the ever-thickening smoke. A trip to the beach in the morning. "The fires began in November, around Kings Point, Durras and Bawley Point, and we were helping students throughout that time. It was just before 7am on New Year’s Eve.Only hours before we’d been discussing our plans for the day. "It is humbling to receive a Vice-Chancellor's Awards," Ms Avitaia said. We’d drink. Don’t panic. Hundreds of locals took refuge at the campus on Hanging Rock Drive, including a newborn baby, children, dogs, elderly couples, birds, and even a horse.