More thunderstorms have rolled in across NSW bringing with them lightning strikes and the concerns they may have sparked more bushfires.
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Aircraft on Monday were kept busy searching for new bushfires from lightning strikes during thunderstorms at the weekend as firefighters continuing to battle dozens of blazes across the state.
More than 80 fires were burning at 7pm on Monday, 50 of them uncontained. More than 1300 firefighters remain in the field across NSW.
"Not exactly what we wanted to see," the NSW Rural Fire Service tweeted after "numerous" lightning strikes were recorded on Monday evening.
The strikes come after rainfall from thunderstorms at the weekend brought much-needed rain to parts of the state, but also lightning and the possibility of more fires.
"We saw some rainfall from thunderstorms in parts of the east and northeast of NSW over the weekend. Similar conditions today with thunderstorms and showers increasing during the day," the Bureau of Meteorology NSW tweeted.
The Rural Fire Service said it was investigating whether any new blazes had started.
"Further storm cells passed through the Blue Mountains and areas to the north overnight. Today we will dispatch aircraft to assess for any new ignitions," they tweeted on Monday.
Overall however, conditions have eased compared with the danger faced in recent weeks, according to the RFS, with warnings reduced to very high for southern regions and high across the rest of the state.
An 80,000-hectare fire at Myall Creek Road in Bora Ridge, south of Casino, rose to emergency warning level on Monday, with all others at "advice" level.
The fire was again downgraded to an advice level by Monday evening.
The RFS has advised people in the Woombah or Iluka areas who were planning to leave, or unprepared to leave, to do so now towards Grafton.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Sunday that $48 million has been set aside for bushfire recovery.
The community recovery package - a joint federal and state government initiative - includes grants of up to $15,000 to help small businesses and farmers.
The package will be targeted at the north coast, mid-north coast and Northern Tablelands.
"The impact to communities has been evident over the last few weeks, however the extent of the impact to our farming and business sectors has not been fully quantified as these bushfires continue to burn," Ms Berejiklian said in a statement.
Australian Associated Press
