Two dead, thousands affected in NSW

TWO people have died and another 15 people have been rescued in severe weather and flooding across NSW.

TWO people are dead and 19,000 people have been told to evacuate as rising floodwaters and wild winds wreak havoc across the state.

Roads are flooded and residents of Kempsey and areas on the state's mid-north coast are bracing as the Macleay River is expected to again break its banks.

SES volunteers have responded to 2729 calls for help - 450 in Sydney - and warned the number was "rising rapidly". There have also been 34 rescues, mainly of people stranded in their cars.

The body of a 17-year-old boy was discovered after he was sucked into a drainpipe while wading in waist-deep floodwater with friends on Friday afternoon.

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The group had been collecting golf balls when he was sucked into the drain.

A friend found the boy's body in reeds about 40 metres from the drain exit near Kew, on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

One of the group, a 16-year-old boy, was also pulled into the pipe while trying to find his friend, travelling underwater for 100 metres before emerging into a dam at the other end.

The two boys were taken by ambulance to Port Macquarie Base Hospital in a distraught state with the 16-year-old admitted with water on his lungs.

 A report is being prepared for the Coroner.

Police remain at the scene of a second death where a man's body was found in a submerged car north of Grafton.

SES volunteers were called to Rogan Bridge Road at Mylneford, about 20km north-west of Grafton, shortly before 1pm today after a car was seen submerged in floodwaters.

Volunteers found the body of the man inside the car and alerted Grafton Police.

Police are now working to formally identify the man.

Meanwhile, some 19,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and 21400 are isolated mainly in Byron, Clarence and Belligne as rain and winds continue to batter NSW.

Torrential rain, gales and dangerous surf battered regions for the second time in a month with moderate to major flooding in river systems stretching from Lismore to Port Macquarie.

Roofs were lifted off houses while thousands were left without power as an intense low pressure system moved over the region.

A spokesperson for the SES said Kempsey, Port Macquarie and areas of the lower Macleay were on flood alert with volunteers urging locals to leave their homes and places of business.

"The Macleay river breaks at either 6.7 or 6.9 metres," the spokesperson said.

"It's currently at 6.6 metres and projected to peak at around 7.3 metres tomorrow morning."

The higher peak is just short of the 2001 flood and will affect the Kempsey central business district and cause major flooding downstream at Smithtown and in rural areas.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Tim Constable said although system was weakening as it head south, the rain and big swells were expected to hang around for the next week.

 "We are seeing some record falls associated with this low pressure system, especially up around Port Macquarie,'' he said.

"There will be some heavy rainfall in Sydney in the morning, which should gradually ease to isolated showers.

A major flood warning was also in place for the Hastings River after the river hit 11m at 7am yesterday morning - higher than the 1978 flood.

Many parts of the coast received heavy rainfall of between 100-200mm, with Seaview near Port Macquarie receiving 415mm.

The rainfall caused major flooding in towns such as Bellingen where the river peaked at 9m at 5am this morning.

Wind gusts reached 126 kilometres an hour at Byron Head, while roofs were lifted from houses in nearby Ballina.

POLICE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES HAVE REMINDED COMMUTERS NOT TO ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH FLOODWATERS

The Pacific Highway is currently closed:
* northbound at Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie (local access only; through-traffic is being turned around)
* between North Kempsey and Frederickton, and southbound at Clybucca
* 4km north of Macksville
* northbound at South Grafton; traffic is being diverted via Centenary Drive (not suitable for heavy vehicles)

Other major roads which are affected by flooding are
* Oxley Highway - closed between Wauchope and Walcha
* Waterfall Way - closed between Pacific Highway, Raleigh and Dorrigo
* Gwydir Highway - closed between Grafton and Glen Innes
* Bangalow Road - between Lismore and Bexhill
* Failford Road - between Pacific Highway, Failford and The Lakes Way

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