A woman who was among three people killed in flash flooding in the Hunter Valley township of Dungog was trying to save her dog when she was washed away, a resident says.
Police said a woman and two men were found dead on Tuesday morning following the severe weather event, which continues to batter the Hunter, Sydney and the Illawarra.
The precise circumstances surrounding the deaths of the trio are still to be determined, however the Dungog Chronicle reports they were trapped as flood water surged through the town in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Dungog resident Sally Fitzpatrick, who is a former neighbour of the dead woman, said the town was "very quiet" and "in shock".
"I heard [the dead woman] didn't want to abandon her dog and she was washed away but the dog survived", Ms Fitzpatrick said.
Locals were afraid more wild weather was set to hit the town, with many houses and business flooded, and rural properties isolated due to water over roads and a bridge collapse.
"It's getting dark and there's still no power," Ms Fitzpatrick said. "Right now there's a black cloud approaching from the south.... thick and dark to the ground, very scary looking."
NSW Premier Mike Baird said on Tuesday more severe weather was forecast to hit before conditions eased at midnight.
'We will get to you'
Mr Baird urged workers to "head home as soon as you possibly can".
"That's really from the Illawarra to Newcastle, that is specific advice to Newcastle in particular," he said. "If I can ask for bosses to be flexible, for people to make arrangements in an orderly way to start to head home as soon as you possibly can."
He said there had been more than 4500 calls for assistance and up to 1000 calls to triple-zero.
Mr Baird asked people to be patient as emergency crews dealt with life-threatening situations.
"People need to be patient while we focus very clearly on the critical services in health and aged care," the premier said.
"We will get to you."
Since Monday, there had been more than 47 flood rescues and more than 200,000 homes and businesses had lost power.
Emergency Services Minister David Elliott described the weather system as a "one-in-a-decade storm".
The 500 SES volunteers were risking "life and limb" to ensure that the people of NSW got through the storm.
"Today's events are going to test our emergency services," Mr Elliott said.
Evacuations were currently underway in Dungog, where the three elderly people died, and the township was now isolated.
Local newspaper the Dungog Chronicle said the heavy rain that fell throughout the night intensified about 4:30am on Tuesday.
Along with the three dead, four houses in Dungog had been washed away and the State Emergency Service also rescued a couple in their 70s as they dangled from their gutters.
A younger couple was also reportedly rescued from the roof of their house.
'We checked it at 5am ... it washed away at 7am'
The home of Tinara Braham's father, Andrew, was washed away in the floods early on Tuesday. A neighbour, Jarod Rits, filmed it being carried off by the water (watch the video above).
Ms Braham said it was one of a number of houses in the low-lying end of town which were submerged after torrential rainfall overnight.
"It washed away about 7am this morning," Ms Braham said.
"We checked it about 5am and it was submerged but OK - by the time we got back to our house in Mary Street, it was gone.
"The house next door to it was also washed away and completely destroyed."
Mr Rits, 18, said he woke up to sound of heavy rain hammering his house, and went outside to asses the situation.
After seeing people fleeing their houses, Mr Rits said he "ran back inside to get things ready to get out quickly" but the water rose so quickly "we had to walk up to waist-deep to get out".
"The water came out of nowhere, it just rose that quick," he said, in a phone interview from the shelter of a friend's house.
'Very upsetting times'
As he joined neighbours gathering at the pub on Dowling Street, directly opposite his house, Mr Rits said he decided to capture footage of the street from the pub's verandah.
As he pointed his camera phone, a neighbour's house dislodged from its bearings and floated across the street.
"Three or four houses" in total got swept away, he said, including those of his friends.
"They're a bit shattered, as you would be, because they didn't have any time to get anything out [of their houses]. Very upsetting times."
Mr Rits said he was "pretty sure everyone got out" because all the neighbours gathered in the one spot as the water roared down the street, snapping powerlines in its path.
"The water was just a roar, really, just rushing through the streets," he said.
Mr Rits said his house was standing, but substantially water damaged.
"My house is trashed inside and out. Everything is damaged."
Dungog, which has a population of of 2100, was on Tuesday without electricity and mobile phone services. A number of roads and bridges have also reportedly been washed away.
with Newcastle Herald, Dungog Chronicle
