Police have pulled two bodies from floodwaters on the Mid North Coast, a river-braided region of rugged hills and fertile valleys about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Sydney.
The storms have in some areas dumped more than half a year's worth of rain over just three days, the government weather bureau said.
The town of Kempsey -- a farming hub on the banks of the Macleay River -- had been cut off with little warning, Mayor Kinne Ring told AFP.
“The downpours are torrential and every time it rains, you wonder what is going to happen next.”
About 140 kilometres south in the town of Taree, business owner Jeremy Thornton said the “gut-wrenching” flood was among the worst he had seen.
“We are reliving it every second -- hearing the rain, hearing the helicopters, hearing the siren.”
An elderly couple climbed on to the roof of their car to escape a fast-rising flash flood before a rescue helicopter winched them to safety, NSW police in Taree said in a statement.
Locals spotted dead cows washing up on beaches after swollen rivers swept them from their pastures inland.
Police said they were still searching for two people reported missing.
From the arid outback to the tropical coast, swaths of Australia have recently been pummelled by wild weather.
Warmer seas evaporate more moisture into the atmosphere, which can eventually lead to more intense rains.
“I don’t think there is a question that climate change is having a significant impact on weather events right across the world,“ emergency management minister Kristy McBain told reporters.
About 2,500 emergency workers have been deployed to the region, alongside rescue boats, a fleet of helicopters and hundreds of search drones.
Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Steve Bernasconi said some towns had recorded more than half a metre (1.6 feet) of rain in the space of three days.
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