Before and after: Satellite images show devastation from NSW bushfires
Never-before-seen satellite images show NSW towns before and after the bushfire crisis, revealing the devastating scale of the state’s worst-ever fire season. SEE THE EXCLUSIVE IMAGES.
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Satellite images — released for the first time since the crisis began — show the scars left across NSW by the state’s worst ever bushfire season.
Harrowing before and after images of bushfire-ravaged towns show once green, lush landscapes brimming with life turned to virtual ghost towns in a matter of months.
The devastating images, obtained exclusively from Google, show NSW towns and national parks months before the bushfires and again today.
The infernos have left an unprecedented scale of destruction — razing 5.2 million hectares of land, killing 21 people and destroying thousands of homes.
The flames may have passed but the fiery infernos have left wounds — visible in these devastating images — across NSW.
Wollemi
Source: Google Earth Engine
The once lush, green landscape of the heritage-listed Wollemi National Park has been completely razed by the mammoth 500,000ha Gospers Mountain fire northwest of Sydney.
Large swathes of the 361,000ha park — the largest wilderness area in Australia — have been burnt to a skeleton, with just some parts spared.
The park’s historic ‘dinosaur’ trees were spared in a secret mission which saw an underground sprinkler system shield the pines from an oncoming blaze.
Cobargo
Source: Google Earth Engine
The small town in the state’s southeast is almost unrecognisable after a hellish inferno tore through the region.
Images show expanses of blackened earth and areas collapsed to rubble after a deadly firestorm tore through.
Trees surrounding the region’s beach have been burnt to skeletons of what they were.
The images are a stark comparison to the region before the bushfires, healthy bushland and large acreage properties.
Nowra
Source: Google Earth Engine
Parts of the popular coastal tourist town in Shoalhaven have been turned to virtual desert landscapes by the deadly Currowan fire.
The fire — which stretches from Nowra down to Moruya — has been raging since late November, wreaking devastation in the region.
Satellite images show areas once filled with dense bushland burnt to the ground and green plains turned brown.
Batemans Bay
Source: Google Earth Engine
The once-popular tourist destination, now surrounded by a ring of fire, has been turned amber by the devastating fires.
Just weeks ago, heartbreaking images of residents and tourists fleeing their homes and flooding beaches to seek refuge from a hellish forefront surfaced.
The fire destroyed dozens of homes and killed at least two people. Satellite images show once green land now arid and desolate.
Camden
Source: Google Earth Engine
In Sydney’s southwest, fires have completely destroyed once healthy bushland.
Dense bush surrounding Lake Burragorang is now dry and arid.
Plumes of smoke haze blanket the landscape, where the almost 300,000ha Green Wattle Creek fire continues to rage.
Katoomba and Mount Tomah
Source: Google Earth Engine
The historic Blue Mountains has been blackened by the bushfires, with fears 80 per cent of the iconic heritage-listed region may have been lost.
The rugged mountain region, known for its spectacular scenery, eucalyptus forests and waterfalls is now almost completely razed.
Devastating images show almost half of the national park turned amber after the 500,000ha Gospers Mountain fire tore through the region.
Port Macquarie
Source: Google Earth Engine
The coastal town in the state’s north — known for its rich wildlife and stunning scenery — has been razed by the bushfires.
Bushland just metres from homes erupted into flames when fires swept through the region, turning the skies orange and prompting apocalyptic scenes.
The town’s famous coastal bushland has turned to ash in parts.