River-by-river, how and where the NSW floods brought deadly destruction
Record breaking rainfall across northern NSW is causing vast amounts of water to flow down several massive river systems towards the NSW coast, causing major floods.
Here are some the river systems most heavily affected by the flood disaster.
The Manning River, fed by several tributaries that wind down from the high country north of Barrington Tops, surged to unprecedented levels this week after the district received half a metre of rain in three days.
Taree and other townships including Wingham were swamped by floodwaters and hundreds of people were evacuated.
A rescue team made contact with a 63-year-old man at Moto, north of Taree, but by the time they reached his flooded property, the man had died.
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Others saw their livelihoods ruined. 'It's gone, it's gone. The shop is gone,' said Taree barber Mustafa Al-Abboodi. 'We're waiting for the water to go. What are we going to do?'
James Larking and Kerri-Ann Gimbert had little warning before the waters rose to engulf their home, east of Taree.
The couple swam through neck-deep water to rescue some deer and donkeys.
'We've lost everything, but we're alive, we're safe, that's the main thing,' Larking said.
The Hastings River peaked above the major flood level late on Wednesday, with waters spilling into central areas of Wauchope and Port Macquarie.
'Some of the businesses in the CBD are inundated,' said the mayor of Port Macquarie Hastings, Adam Roberts. 'I have just been down there and some of the businesses have a foot or so of water in them.'
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The water levels have stabilised and in some places are receding, but heavy rain is still falling in the catchment areas west of Port Macquarie.
The Oxley Highway linking Wauchope and Port Macquarie remains underwater, with drivers having to take a circuitous route south to travel between the neighbouring towns.
'We haven't been able to get in to assess damage to the roads so it may be a while before they're back on line,' Roberts said.
'We're asking people to stay off the roads, where possible. There's still a lot of water around.'
At about 8am on Thursday, at Rosewood just east of Wauchope, searchers found the body of a man in his 30s whose vehicle had become stuck in floodwaters.
'Some of the businesses in the CBD are inundated; I have just been in a couple that have a foot or so of water in them,' said the mayor of Port Macquarie Hastings, Adam Roberts.
In Kempsey Shire, 23,000 residents are approaching 24 hours of isolation as floodwaters on the Macleay River reached 7.4 metres on Thursday morning.
Kempsey mayor Kinne Ring said the community was bracing for flood levels not seen since 2001, with 250 millimetres of rain expected to fall across Thursday.
'We haven't had any loss of power or telecommunications, but people are running out of food and medicine, that is something we're worried about,' Ring said.
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'We've just had a lot of local rain, and we've had a wet April with ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the water is coming down and staying.'
In Smithtown, north-east of Kempsey on the Macleay River, homes have been wrecked by floodwaters that are expected to rise late on Thursday.
Among those facing property damage is Kym Machin, whose bed and breakfast has been lashed by flooding that has exceeded four metres and threatens to rise further.
'Smithtown isn't a metropolis, it isn't the centre of the world, so I didn't expect tonnes of bookings, I expected public holidays and school breaks, but I probably won't get any of that now ... I've never seen it flood like this.'
Machin's partner Ross Costanzo, who lives in a rural property in the neighbouring town of Old Station, thought the river had risen by more than a metre since this morning.
'The river is basically full; this morning it was high tide, and it's still raining now, it's still rising,' Costanzo said.
Evacuation warnings were issued late on Wednesday for several stretches of the Nambucca River, including at Macksville, Bowraville at Nambucca Heads.
Flood projections from the Bureau of Meteorology were being updated late on Thursday, with fresh evacuation warnings issued after 3pm on Thursday.
'You must evacuate now because flood water may impact your area,' said the State Emergency Service warning issued at 3.19pm to residents of Nambucca Heads who live close to the Nambucca River.
In Bowraville, residents in several streets were warned at 3.21pm to take shelter.
'It is now too late to leave safely as evacuation routes are likely to be cut off,' the SES warning said. 'Seek shelter in a sturdy raised structure that can be safely accessed. You may now be trapped without power, water, and other essential services and it may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you.'
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But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year." Residents of Port Stephens captured a waterspout over Anna Bay on Wednesday afternoon, as the grey and cold weather blanketed much of the region. Temperatures dropped on Wednesday as a cold front moved offshore, pushed by a high-pressure system drifting across the state. This brought showers to an already sodden region. Partly cloudy conditions dominated much of the forecast for the remainder of the work week, with a return to mostly sunny conditions on Saturday, but not before dangerous and powerful surf conditions battered the coast and the Upper Hunter braced for one of the first flushes of frost for the season. Newcastle was in line for a shower or two on Thursday, most likely in the morning, forecasters said, as a surf warning remained in effect until Friday, when conditions were expected to ease. The uncommon waterspout at Anna Bay was captured by residents, who posted photos and videos on social media. The phenomenon is typically caused when wind blowing in contrary directions meet, creating a twisting action along the convergence line. The result forces air upwards, carrying water with it, and can result in localised heavy showers as it passes. It is not uncommon to see multiple spouts drifting in a line across the horizon, forecasters say, as the converging edge of the two wind gusts causes the air to twist at several points. The return to rain at the weekend came with a sense of trepidation as residents across the region and the Mid-North Coast recovered from widespread flooding last month. It comes as the state and federal governments expand disaster relief grants and funding this week, dating back to Tropical Cyclone Alfred in February. During question time in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday, Premier Chris Minns, said the state and its federal counterpart were providing a slew of relief funds, including disaster recovery grants, hardship payments up to $900 for families, income support payments, one-off federal government disaster payments, and support for councils, emergency services and roads and infrastructure recovery. "I genuinely do accept that this is a start," Mr Minns told the Parliament. "We need to do this in conjunction with the Commonwealth government. It needs to be 50-50, payments." "This shouldn't come down to dollars and cents, but I need to make sure that this is sustainable." "In the period between 2019 and today, we've spent more than $6 billion, and we wouldn't take any of that money back. It's absolutely essential that we spend it. But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year." Residents of Port Stephens captured a waterspout over Anna Bay on Wednesday afternoon, as the grey and cold weather blanketed much of the region. Temperatures dropped on Wednesday as a cold front moved offshore, pushed by a high-pressure system drifting across the state. This brought showers to an already sodden region. Partly cloudy conditions dominated much of the forecast for the remainder of the work week, with a return to mostly sunny conditions on Saturday, but not before dangerous and powerful surf conditions battered the coast and the Upper Hunter braced for one of the first flushes of frost for the season. Newcastle was in line for a shower or two on Thursday, most likely in the morning, forecasters said, as a surf warning remained in effect until Friday, when conditions were expected to ease. The uncommon waterspout at Anna Bay was captured by residents, who posted photos and videos on social media. The phenomenon is typically caused when wind blowing in contrary directions meet, creating a twisting action along the convergence line. The result forces air upwards, carrying water with it, and can result in localised heavy showers as it passes. It is not uncommon to see multiple spouts drifting in a line across the horizon, forecasters say, as the converging edge of the two wind gusts causes the air to twist at several points. The return to rain at the weekend came with a sense of trepidation as residents across the region and the Mid-North Coast recovered from widespread flooding last month. It comes as the state and federal governments expand disaster relief grants and funding this week, dating back to Tropical Cyclone Alfred in February. During question time in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday, Premier Chris Minns, said the state and its federal counterpart were providing a slew of relief funds, including disaster recovery grants, hardship payments up to $900 for families, income support payments, one-off federal government disaster payments, and support for councils, emergency services and roads and infrastructure recovery. "I genuinely do accept that this is a start," Mr Minns told the Parliament. "We need to do this in conjunction with the Commonwealth government. It needs to be 50-50, payments." "This shouldn't come down to dollars and cents, but I need to make sure that this is sustainable." "In the period between 2019 and today, we've spent more than $6 billion, and we wouldn't take any of that money back. It's absolutely essential that we spend it. But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year."
