Hi Winchester,
As Cobba says, there has been mass destruction down here on the south coast with infrastructure wiped out. Power and phone connections are out everywhere. We have limited phone service, both landline and mobile.
Just yesterday, I had to spend time on Mt Wandera, nth west of Moruya, in an attempt to get our local Community radio back on air. The transmitter base is used by us, Essential Energy, Broadcast Australia and Telstra. Our system has been damaged to the point we will have limited transmission for some weeks.
BA technicians were able to Jury-rig a small transmitter to enable TV broadcasts and some limited other communications.
The Telstra complex and tower was badly damaged and will be out of commission for some time. One other thing affecting phone service, with a lot of people on the NBN, when the power goes out, so does the phone. Hang in there, you will eventually get through.
Hope your friends are ok. They should be, as I've not heard of any fire situation near Gerroa.
Cheers, Steve.