Picture special: Stark images reveal how Victoria recovered from black summer bushfires

Dramatic aerial imagery show how Victoria has recovered from the devastating Black Summer bushfires. See the shocking comparisons here.

Stunning images show how Victorian towns ravaged by the 2019 Black Summer bushfires are rising from the ashes.

Photos from aerial photography company, Nearmap, reveal the devastation bushfires caused in the East Gippsland region, specifically Mallacoota, Buchan and Genoa.

Mallacoota was one of the worst hit with nearly a third of the town scorched.

The images show the landscape directly after the fires, to it recovering in 2021.

But East Gippsland mayor, Mark Reeves, said the community was still fragile.

“Our communities are fatigued, they have struggled,” he said.

“There has been uncertainty over businesses being able to open, houses being rebuilt and then the threat of Covid.

“But those factors are starting to be removed and there is a sense of optimism as the communities come together again.”

Cr Reeves said it was important for communities to unite after a disaster.

“(People need to) share their experiences, to talk about it and move forward,” he said.

“It’s a psychological processor after disaster for recovery.

“Covid fractured people, they were thrown a part in isolation.”

Cr Reeves said council had been asked to support towns impacted by the bushfires which it had aimed to do.

“Mallacoota was the poster, pin-up for the black summer fires,” he said.

“But now it’s the small things we can help them with.”

Council helped fund the caravan park on the foreshore so it could welcome back visitors.

“The return of the visitors is crucial to the economy,” Cr Reeves said.

The stunning aerial imagery is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand, and North America.