Applications for disaster assistance are now open

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Applications for disaster recovery assistance payments are now open to residents affected by massive bushfires that have ravaged western Victoria for the past two weeks.

Transcript

00:00The lines opened for workers and sole traders who have lost income because of that giant

00:07fire in the Grampians National Park.

00:09Now, through this federal assistance package, these people are able to access up to 13 weeks

00:15of income support.

00:16And, you know, this has been really welcomed by people in the region, not only because,

00:21you know, these fires have been so intense and they have been burning now for nearly

00:24two weeks, but because these fires have hit at the peak of the tourism season, which is

00:29when many people in this region, you know, make their money for the year.

00:34Businesses say 30% of their annual income is made in January.

00:37It's really the busiest time for the tourism sector.

00:40You know, they've got accommodation, there's hiking, there's a lot of draw cards to the

00:44region and that happens right now.

00:46So this income support has been warmly welcomed.

00:49However, businesses are wondering when they're going to be getting any support.

00:54They're looking to the state government for that.

00:55And the state government has said that they are still investigating what that could look

01:00like.

01:01But businesses in the region are waiting with bated breath to find out more.

01:05And can you tell us what is the latest on the fire itself?

01:07Yes.

01:08Well, this fire is 76,000 hectares, which is, you know, pretty difficult to wrap your

01:13mind around.

01:14It's the size of Singapore and it's burning in a quite remote region of Western Victoria.

01:21It reached fever pitch on Boxing Day when we had really hot, really dry and windy conditions

01:27here in the state.

01:28But a cool change blew in that evening.

01:30And ever since, the fire has become slightly more manageable for firefighters who've been

01:34working tirelessly over the last 24 to 48 hours to contain it.

01:39They've been backburning very ferociously around some of those affected communities.

01:44And they say that they've got about 95% of it under control.

01:48But they are warning people in the region not to relax quite yet.

01:54There's always a chance that conditions could change.

01:56And with very hot conditions expected on Saturday, they're warning residents in the area to prepare

02:02their properties in case yet another fire starts up.

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