New South Wales Premier Christopher Minns praised emergency services and volunteers for rescuing 678 people in recent days in ‘amazing, heroic effort’.

Officials say record floodwaters on Australia’s east coast have left four people dead and one missing as rain eased over the disaster area.

Five people were confirmed killed on Friday in record flooding in northern New South Wales with 50,000 people cut off, thousands of homes and businesses without power and cattle herds wiped out.