With lives lost and countless homes underwater,acts of support from community volunteers are keeping the people of Lismore going.
Local country music identity Marge Graham is one of four confirmed deaths in the NSW flood emergency.
Rising floodwaters forced the evacuation of Ballina hospital,while Lismore’s mayor confirmed a second body had been found.
After escaping with their lives,shocked residents are starting to return to their mud-stained,water-filled houses to survey the devastating impact of record floods.
In the face of the worst disaster they’d ever experienced,the community had no choice but to band together to save themselves. Despite it all,they managed a smile on Monday.
A natural disaster of “unprecedented proportions” has wreaked havoc across north-eastern NSW,with hundreds still trapped or missing late on Monday and at least one man feared dead.
Noel Leon cradles his three-month-old daughter in his arms. He and some others have been lucky enough to escape devastating floodwaters. But they fear for those left behind.
While people in the north of the state evacuate their homes amid rising floods,beaches across Sydney remain closed following a gastro-like event linked to heavy rains over the weekend.
Lismore mayor Steve Krieg estimates hundreds of people are waiting on their roofs or inside roof cavities to be rescued,with waters still rising.
The Wilsons River in Lismore was expected to breach its banks early on Monday morning and reach at least 11.5 metres – equivalent to the March 2017 floods.
House price growth in pockets of regional NSW is outstripping gains seen in Sydney,as ongoing demand from sea and tree changers pushes prices to record heights.