Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the nation Sunday night to prepare itself for worse news as the inferno ravaging Victoria became Australia’s most deadly on record.

The remains of a properties destroyed by bushfires are seen in the town of Kinglake, 55km (34 miles) northeast of Melbourne Feb. 8, 2009.

“We’ve come through bad times before and we’ll come through this one,” he told ABC TV.

But he warned that he feared in the days ahead that “the news is going to be bad and, I believe, the nation needs to prepare itself as full facts become known.”

The military has been put on stand-by to provide assistance and most Australians were in shock as the death toll in Victoria climbed to 84, superseding the 1983 Ash Wednesday disaster, which claimed 75 lives.

Rudd promised all Australians would partner in the rebuilding of the Victorian communities razed by the bushfires.

He also announced a joint 10 million Australian dollars emergency relief fund with Victoria state to help victims of the tragedy.

The prime minister will head out to fire-affected communities again on Monday morning before he is expected to return to Canberra later in the day for question time in parliament.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet