Police said these people had not made contact with friends or family, and encouraged everyone who had been in fire-affected areas to register their details with the Red Cross on 1800 727 077 or www.redcross.org.au.

A police team from Victoria was expected to arrive today to help in the search, with police hoping to finish the preliminary search today so more comprehensive searches could begin.

Police said non-emergency vehicles were being escorted out of the Nubeena area, with five convoys involving 395 vehicles and about 750 people escorted from the area over the past 24 hours.

About 500 vehicles and 1500 people remained at Nubeena.

Two resupply convoys carrying essential supplies were escorted into the area yesterday.

Police said reopening the Arthur Highway was a priority, but asked people to remember there was a active, uncontrolled fire in the area.

Police said they wanted to advise the public that convoys onto the Tasman Peninsula were not for general members of the public, but for essential supplies approved by emergency services.

For more information on the fire situation and support services, contact 1800 567 567. Up-to-date information on the fires can also be found at the Tasmania Fire Service website www.fire.tas.gov.au.

Police information is also available at www.police.tas.gov.au. Information on grants and other support available to those affected by fires can be found at www.dpac.tas.gov.au/bushfires.

EARLIER: Police say it will take some time before they know whether anyone has died as a result of bushfires that have swept through parts of south-east Tasmania and continue to burn.

Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said police and other searchers were working in the area around Dunalley and Murdunna as part of a preliminary screening search that has so far not discovered any bodies.

Mr Tilyard said the process began in the early evening on Friday as soon as it was safe to fly an initial team to Dunalley.

"It's continued since then and been ramping up since that time," he said.

"The teams that we've got working on this at the moment are joint agency teams with New South Wales fire assistance, police, SES, Tasmania Fire and assistance and assistance from Defence Force reservists as well, and they're working through the process as quickly as they possibly can but it does need to be done thoroughly and it needs to be done safely from their perspective as well," he said.

Mr Tilyard urged anyone who had been on the Tasman Peninsula during the fire to register with the National Registration and Inquiry Service on 1800727077 or at www.redcross.org.au to help police account for all those thought to be missing.

"We're encouraging people, even if they're previously registered at a community refuge centre to also again register with the national registration system so that we can be certain that they're OK," he said.

"Up until (yesterday) morning we still had about 500 inquiries that we were working through."

Mr Tilyard said the majority of people who wanted to leave the peninsula had been able to do so.

He said some people had elected to stay and that the Nubeena Recovery Centre was servicing the needs of about 500 people, some of whom were camped at the centre.

At Port Arthur, he said there were about 200-250 people being looked after and a much smaller number at the Sorell facility.