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Residents have been airlifted off roofs as town centres are inundated, with some communities told to stay indoors amid widespread flooding in eastern Australia.
A coastal trough is slowly moving over the NSW mid-north coast, bringing moderate to heavy rain to several towns.
On Wednesday alone, over 150 rescues took place, including in Coffs Harbour and Taree. In Taree, the Manning River surpassed its previous record of six metres set in 1929, before stabilizing around midday.
More than 80 warnings were in place late on Wednesday morning after falls of up to 280mm in some areas.
“For those people waiting to be rescued, we know this takes time. We are working on it. It is a priority and we ask you to be patient,” Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have seen images of people on roofs. You are the absolute priority.”
The Defence Force had responded to a request for assistance, helping more than 1600 SES volunteers, he said.
The bulk of rescues were in Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne, including several cars caught driving into floodwater.
Many people reported water rising into their homes as the night progressed, with some needing to seek refuge on their roofs, the SES said.
Another 200mm to 300mm may fall in the next two days, impacting the Coffs Coast and northern tablelands.
Some northern catchments are already saturated after being impacted by Cyclone Alfred in March.
“What we had 24 hours ago was in the Hunter area, then the mid-north coast and is slowly moving into the northeast,” NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said.
A stay-indoors message was issued for elevated inland parts of the mid-north coast, including Bowraville and the outskirts of Coffs Harbour.
Six-hourly rainfall totals between 100mm and 140mm were possible through the day, the SES warned.
In the state’s Hunter region, the Myall River is among the areas on flood watch, with local residents warned to monitor forecasts and rainfall and be ready to move to higher ground.
For Ray, a cleaner at Bulahdelah’s Plough Inn Hotel, the rising river has already caused damage.
“My houseboat went,” Ray told AAP.
“I was looking across the jetty [on Tuesday] morning and it wasn’t there.”
The SES warned Bulahdelah residents to evacuate some areas on Tuesday afternoon.
Rain is expected to continue into the weekend amid the multi-day flood event.
Taree copped more than 267mm of rain across Monday and Tuesday, among some of the heaviest falls from the system.
