Weather has hampered firefighting efforts as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced $48 million has been set aside for bushfire recovery, after blazes devastated some communities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The community recovery package - a joint federal and state government initiative - was announced on Sunday morning and includes grants of up to $15,000 to help small businesses and farmers.
Ms Berejiklian said it would take some time to appreciate the full financial burden of the devastating bushfires.
"The impact to communities has been evident over the last few weeks, however the extent of the impact to our farming and business sectors has not been fully quantified as these bushfires continue to burn," she said in a statement.
Read also: Climb into the 13-Storey Treehouse
Federal Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud says $18 million of the $48 million package had been earmarked for community projects.
"When money flows around a community it can help to speed up the whole recovery," he said in a statement.
The package will be targeted at the north coast, mid-north coast and Northern Tablelands.
Firefighters are on the lookout for new blazes sparked by lightning in the storms that rolled over parts of NSW on Friday and Saturday.
The RFS tweeted a warning for large storm cells between Tenterfield and Tamworth with expected lightning bringing with it the chance of more fires.
"Although there will be pockets of heavy rain, there is not expected to be widespread falls, just a lot of lightning," it said.
"Today has seen lightning over the north of the state with patchy rainfall. We'll be checking for any new fires over the coming days."
Meanwhile rain in other parts of the state has hampered backburning efforts in some areas.
"Easing conditions will allow firefighters to identify and strengthen containment lines as well as identify new ignitions from yesterday's storms," the RFS said on social media.
"Rainfall across some fire grounds yesterday is making access by ground difficult to some areas today. This will limit the amount of firefighting being done by crews today."
On Sunday evening there were 65 fires burning across NSW, with 31 yet to be contained.
All of these were at "advice" alert level, including the 180,000 hectare Gospers Mountain blaze near Sydney's northwestern outskirts.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Elli Blandford says temperatures will be cooler around many of the state's fire grounds on Sunday.
"We are looking at cooler temperatures today, particularly where we are seeing fires on the mid-north coast and out in the Hunter," she told AAP.
"In addition we've got onshore winds, which increase humidity and means conditions aren't as dry in a lot of places."
The combination of increased humidity and weaker winds meant a lower fire danger rating, although this rating was forecast to increase on Monday
"In the next couple of days we will see an increase in fire danger ratings," Ms Blandford said.
"A front will move through the state, with a combined increase in temperatures and strong winds associated with that front."
Fire dangers would be elevated but were unlikely to be as extreme as those seen in the past fortnight, she added.
Australian Associated Press
