Thousands of people will evacuate the South Coast today with conditions on Saturday expected to be as catastrophic, if not worse, than the New Year's Eve blazes which claimed the lives of six people and has destroyed more than 380 homes.
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NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the latest figure on the number of homes lost on the South Coast was 382. This was up from the 186 confirmed on Wednesday.
The NSW RFS has issued a tourist leave zone spanning more than 180 kilometres from Batemans Bay down to Wonboyn near the Victorian border.
This includes the popular tourist towns of Merimbula, Narooma, Tathra, Bermagui and Moruya.
The Navy are expected to deploy the HMAS Choules ship to the NSW South Coast on Thursday to provide support efforts to the area.
Highways are choked with people escaping the coast, on Thursday morning it was bumper to bumper at the north exit to Batemans Bay.
The Princes Highway was opened on Thursday morning between Jervis Bay Road and Corks Lane, Falls Creek to Milton. But traffic was affected in both directions with queues of 10 kilometres.
People leaving the Eurobodalla Shire can head towards Tomakin, travel south via George Bass Drive to Moruya. From Moruya, the Princes Highway is open to Bermagui. Take Bermagui turn off and travel via coast road to Tathra and on to Bega. These detours are signposted.
The Snowy Mountains Highway, Brown Mountain, is open for travel to Canberra and west.
Road closures as of Thursday morning:
Princes Highway
- Princes Highway between Cranbrook Road and North Head Drive, Batemans Bay to Moruya closed in both directions.
- Princes Highway between Bermagui Road and Blanchards Road, Tilba Tilba to Brogo closed in both directions.
- Princes Highway between Imlay Road and Victorian border, Narrabarba, Highway closed in both directions.
Nowra
- Yawal Road at Longreach Road, Bamarang, road closed in both directions
- Albatross Road between Yalwal Road and Btu Road, West Nowra, road closed in both directions
- Btu Road between Albatross Road and Princes Highway, Nowra Hill, road closed in both directions
- Turpetine Road between Princes Highway and Braidwood Road, Jerrawangala to Tomerong, road closed in both directions
- Wandean Road between Princes Highway and Bollerang Road Wandandian, road closed in both directions
Further south
- Braidwood Road, Nerriga Road between Albatross Road and Stewarts Crossing Road, Nowra Hill to Charleyong, road closed in both directions
- Kings highway between Narranghi Road and Reid Street, Braidwood to Nelligen, highway closed in both directions
- Araluen Road, Moruya to Braidwood, road closed in both directions
- Cooma Road, Braidwood to Cooma, road closed in both directions
- Myrtle Mountain Road between Mount Darragh Road and Candelo, Myrtle Mountain, road closed in both directions
Mr Fitzsimmons said: "Our message is as soon as the roads are able to be traversed, we are encouraging, particularly holidaymakers and visitors to the south east of the state to make their way out of the south east of the state to safer places like Sydney and further afield."
"We are getting indications with the forecast for Saturday that is going to present a broader geographic area worse than what we saw yesterday when it comes to fire danger."
Crews have worked to restore power and roads as thousands were left without telecommunications on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There is a shortage of food and water with long queues for supplies at shops across the South Coast.
The devastation from Tuesday's fires has started to be realised.
At least six people have died so far from the South Coast fires.
NSW Police said the body of a man was found in a burnt-out car on a road off the Princes Highway at Yatte Yattah about 7:30am on Wednesday. In the same area a 70-year-old man was found dead outside a home in Yatte Yattah, about 6 kilometres west of Lake Conjola.
The body of man was found in a vehicle on Wandra Road, Sussex Inlet.
Further south, a body was found outside a home at Coolagolite, about 10 kilometres east of Cobargo.
On Tuesday in Wandella, about 10 kilometres west of Cobargo the bodies of father and son Robert, 63, and Patrick Salway, 29, were found.
Businesses in the main streets of Cobargo and Mogo have been razed. There has been significant damage to the Batemans Bay industrial area.
Dozens of properties have been lost in Malua Bay, Lake Conjola, Mogo and Batemans Bay.