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The scale of the devastation of the Victoria bushfires is like nothing Australia has ever seen as hundreds of people converge on emergency relief stations.
The official toll from the fires rose to 131 on Monday and could top 200 as authorities sift through the piles of ash that were once entire communities.
More than 70 people died in the Kinglake fire, which has burnt through 220,000 hectares of the central highlands.
There has never been a more pressing time for the true meaning of community at the Whittlesea Community Centre in Victoria.
Ross Buchanan is in a daze. He has come to the community centre because he has nothing, his children are dead and his home is gone.
"I lost two kids mate. Nothing will bring them back," Buchanan mourns.
Chris and Charo Harvey left their Kinglake house to pick up their daughter at the airport. They returned to an inferno.
"This (the house) was a blow torch mate. This was a volcano erupting right under your feet. You could do nothing about it," says Chris.
The couple say they have lived through bushfires before but nothing quite like this time around.
"It was basically a campfire compared to this," says Chris.
The couple still have each other but not much more.
"We built it by ourselves, by hand, our house. We lost everything," he says.
The Harvey's neighbours Carol and David are still missing two days after the fires torched their town.
Charo says after 48 hours she is still hopping to see her neighbours, despite the odds.
She is one of the lucky ones as she did make it out of the fire zone, her feet badly burnt. Charo reckons everyone alive today had a little extra help.
"There is somebody somewhere, an angel looking after us," she says.
New Zealand charities have launched appeals for the Victoria fire victims. Donations can be made to the following organisations:
Red Cross
Donors can call 0900 33 200 to make an automatic $20 donation or
Click
here
to donate online
Salvation Army
Donors can call 0800 53 00 00 or
Click here
to
donate online
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