'We got down onto the pontoon and the flames were there, it was really scary… and I jumped in. It was daytime, but it was pitch black'. 9News
Rugby league legend Ron Coote has told of how he lost his home of 35 years in Lake Conjola to bushfires as his family later desperately jumped into a lake to take shelter.
"We got down onto the pontoon and the flames were there, it was really scary… and I jumped in. It was daytime, but it was pitch black," she toldIn the end Mrs Coote was saved by a passer-by on a jetski after spending about an hour in the lake. His daughter's house, which is next door, was also lost. At least 50 homes in Lake Conjola have been destroyed."They both went up… we lost them, we lost everything. It's a bit daunting of a morning when you get up and you have no clothes to put on. We used to get up and go to the drawer to put something on and away you'd go, but unfortunately that's happened.
Many towns across NSW and Victoria are now facing severe food and water shortages in what is being branded as a humanitarian crisis.
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