Taree resident Holly Pillotto, who was among those stranded on an upper level of her home, said she was desperate for assistance as floodwaters continued to rise.
“Our neighbours on the back verandah here are also stranded,” she told Australia’s Channel Nine. “It’s a really dangerous spot to be.”
Dib said that emergency services were “throwing everything we have into” reaching those affected.
State Emergency Service Chief Superintendent Dallas Byrnes said the situation was “incredibly dynamic and escalating”, with more than 150 flood rescues conducted overnight.
“We’ve got a lot of people getting rescued from rooftops and from upper levels of houses,” Byrnes told the national broadcaster ABC.
However, he warned that “conditions are quite treacherous and it may be that those aviation assets are unable to fly throughout the day”.
The agency said that about 16,000 people, or 7,400 dwellings, would remain isolated until at least Thursday.
More heavy rain is expected in the coming 48 hours – with some locations to receive 200mm – before conditions begin to ease, authorities said Wednesday.
Scientists have warned that heatwaves and other extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more intense as global temperatures rise because of climate change.
