Rain provided some relief but bushfires were still raging Victoria this morning, with 53 homes confirmed lost and more in doubt in Wye River and Separation Creek overnight.
Rain helped but the #Lorne fire is not yet under control. 53 houses lost in Wye River & Separation Creek #VicFires pic.twitter.com/mBPJmJYbVm
— CFA Updates (@CFA_Updates) December 25, 2015
The Great Ocean Road remains closed from Torquay to Skenes Creek, and the thousands of holidaymakers and festival goers who usually head for Lorne and its surrounds from Boxing Day each year are being urged to stay away while emergency services try to get the situation under control and assess the damage.
The Great Ocean Road key Warnings view at 10:56am. Approx/indicative. https://t.co/ZDoCIc7Ct0 pic.twitter.com/xBvzSrMkPI
— George Hall (@geehall1) December 25, 2015
A woman tends to animals in the main street of #Lorne as children sleep on fold-out beds. ??: AAP Image/Julian Smith pic.twitter.com/32IPMQzstB
— Eliza Sum (@ElizaSum) December 25, 2015
Organisers of the sold out Falls Music and Arts Festival, due to begin on December 28 in the hills above Lorne, released a statement on their website advising that the festival site is “safe from the path of the fires”, but that final decisions as to the festival going ahead would be made after midday today.
