Death toll in Australia floods rises to four, tens of thousands stranded

The body of a man was found in a car trapped in floodwaters in Australia's southeast on Friday, raising the death toll to four, after three days of incessant rain cut off entire towns, swept away livestock and destroyed homes.

Police said the man was found near Coffs Harbour, around 550 km north of Sydney. The search continued for a person missing since the deluge began early this week.

Around 50,000 people are still isolated, emergency services personnel said, while residents returning to their flooded homes were warned to watch out for dangers.

"Floodwaters have contaminants, there can be vermin, snakes... so you need to assess those risks. Electricity can also pose a danger as well," state Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Damien Johnston said during a media briefing.

Television videos showed submerged intersections and street signs, cars up to their windshields in water, after fast-rising waters burst river banks in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state.

Debris from the floods, and dead and lost livestock, have washed up on the coast.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had to cancel his planned visit to Taree, one of the worst-hit towns, due to floodwaters.

"We did try... but that was not possible due to the circumstance, which I'm sure people understand," Albanese told reporters from the town of Maitland in the Hunter region. "But our thoughts are with communities that are cut off at this point in time. And we're here to basically say, very clearly, and explicitly you're not alone."

Australia has been enduring more extreme weather events that some experts say are happening because of climate change. After droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequent floods have wreaked havoc since early 2021.

"What once were rare downpours are now becoming the new normal - climate change is rewriting Australia's weather patterns, one flood at a time," Davide Faranda, weather researcher at ClimaMeter, said in a statement.

DISRUPTIONS IN SYDNEY

A wild weather system that dumped around four months of rain over three days shifted south towards Sydney on Thursday bringing heavy rain overnight, though the weather bureau, in its latest update, said it is expected to ease by Friday evening.

Water on rail tracks impacted some suburban train lines in Sydney, including its airport line services, while Sydney Airport was forced to shut down two of its three runways for one hour on Friday morning due to strong winds, delaying flights.

Warragamba Dam, which supplies 80 per cent of Sydney's water supply and is currently at around 96 per cent of capacity, could spill over, officials said.