Residents in northern NSW have spent an anxious night as flood waters continued to rise and many people remained stranded.
A severe weather front is predicted to track south, impacting the mid north coast before reaching Sydney and the south coast around Wednesday.
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg told the ABC as many as 1000 people could still be trapped and awaiting rescue in his area, with around 400 calls for help yet to answered.
“There was a family of five people that were sitting on a roof about 15 km out of Lismore who were awaiting getting airlifted,” Mr Krieg said on Mondxjmtzyway night.
“So 400 calls could translate to anywhere up to 1000 people still.”
He said as well as about 200 ADF personnel and emergency services crews, about 20 civilian boats had been providing assistance to those in trouble.
Rescue efforts continued into the night, although an SES spokesperson said it was important to also take into account the safety of their own personnel.
“They do want to help the community and they genuinely want to get out there but we need to ensure the safety of our volunteers,” the spokesperson said.
Overnight the Bureau of Meteorology issued additional flood warnings for the Macleay, Orara and Nambucca rivers.
A number of roads were closed including the M1 Pacific Motorway which was shut in both directions between Cudgera Creek and Tweed Heads.
Adverse weather conditions hampered aerial rescue efforts throughout Monday with hopes more aircraft could be safely launched to assist those still stranded in the coming days.
