Rain bomb turns deadly as body is located in floodwaters – with urgent ‘evacuate now’ orders issued for thousands

A 63-year-old man has been found dead on the state’s Mid North Coast as devastating floods continue to ravage New South Wales. 

Emergency services were called to a property on North Moto Road near Coopernook about 3pm on Wednesday after reports a body had been located. 

Upon arrival, officers from the Manning-Great Lakes Police District discovered the man’s body inside a residence that had been inundated by floodwaters. 

An investigation is now underway, and a report will be prepared for the coroner. Authorities have not yet released the man’s identity. 

A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.

His death comes as NSW is battered by torrential rain and dangerous flooding, isolating tens of thousands, while hundreds have been rescued.

The heavy falls across the NSW Hunter and mid-north coast regions in recent days have spread to the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands as a slow-moving trough dumped rain along Australia’s east coast.

Falls between 200-300mm in the next 24 hours are likely and may lead to flash flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology warns, around the north coast communities of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Woolgoolga, Sawtell and Dorrigo.

The bureau said the trough was expected to contract southwards on Thursday afternoon.

More than 100 warnings are in place, with local residents in the path of flooding urged to head to higher ground and evacuate if they can.

SES Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said conditions through the night into Thursday had been challenging.

‘We’ve seen continual rainfall and very fast flowing rivers which, when combined with flooded roads, have made it very difficult to access some isolated people,’ he said.

‘While dozens of rescues have been completed overnight, they continue to be received.’

In the past 24 hours, the SES has carried out about 340 flood rescues and used helicopters to winch stranded residents off their roofs as they responded to 1023 incidents.

More than 100 rescues were outstanding on Thursday morning, the SES said.

Some 50,000 people have been warned they could be isolated on Thursday including in Kempsey on the mid-north coast, where the Macleay River has overtopped a levee and is still rising.

Major flooding will continue to impact other nearby areas like Macksville and Port Macquarie.

Farmers have lost livestock washed away by floodwaters.

Others are working to help get some of them back, taking to community Facebook pages to track down owners for cattle that have washed up on their properties.

Evacuation centres have been set up at Dungog, Gloucester, Taree, Manning Point, Wingham, Bulahdelah, Tuncurry Beach, Kempsey and Port Macquarie.

Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the Commonwealth was working with the NSW government to provide support in 16 local government areas.

‘These floods and severe weather are having a huge impact on communities,’ she said.

The Insurance Council of Australia said the flooding could be catastrophic, with significant flooding in similar areas in 2022.

‘We are closely monitoring the severe weather across the entire state,’ council chief executive Andrew Hall said.

On Wednesday, NSW premier Chris Minns announced the state and federal governments activated disaster assistance support measures for 16 local governments in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions. 

On Thursday morning, Mr Minns told the Today show he was saddened by news of the 63-year-old’s death. 

‘It’s very sad, and when there’s these terrible natural disasters, they hit ordinary families in terrible ways and our heart goes out to obviously that man and his family,’ he said. 

‘I’m very grateful we’ve got thousands of volunteers and the local community has really rallied in the last 48 hours, but they’ve needed to.’