There were over 2000 homes burnt down and a fair few businesses as well. Just over 200 people died. I think I read a newspaper article that stated that about 6000 insurance claims had been filed. A number (and I don’t know the percentage) of home owners were not insured and so are relying on donated money to rebuild their homes.

The area affected by the fires is actually very large. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nixwilliams/3268037763/ While it was in rural Victoria where the population density isn’t so high, the sheer speed at which the fires engulfed whole towns and the fact that many people were burnt and killed while they were fleeing the fires in cars and motorcycles has really affected the Australian public.

While many of the fires were deliberately lit, I think many are calling this Australia’s worst natural disaster.