Around 50,000 people are still isolated, emergency services personnel said, as they look to ramp up efforts to supply essential supplies after weather conditions eased.

Officials in Australia's most populous state made a natural disaster declaration in response to record rainfall.

Four people have died and several were missing as major flooding in New South Wales (NSW) left about 50,000 people isolated by floodwaters. The record rainfall, now declared a natural disaster, has been caused by a slow-moving area of low pressure and is greater than any in living memory for some residents, according to local authorities.