NSW flooding updates: Two men and a woman have died in NSW Mid North Coast floodwaters, one person remains missing — as it happened

We will end our live blog coverage of the NSW floods here.

There are currently 151 warnings in place on the Hazard Watch website.

While the situation will develop, these currently include:

• Newry Island
• Rawdon Island
• Coutts Crossing
• Wauchope

Check latest weather, warnings, rainfall and river heights at www.bom.gov.au/nsw/

Check road closures at www.livetraffic.com.au or 132 701 or your local Council.

If you need help, call NSW SES on 132-500 or triple zero if your life is in danger.

Three people have been found dead and one person is missing as a result of the floods.

SES workers and community members are carrying out rescue efforts to help those in need.

My colleague Victoria Pengilley is reporting from the ground.

You can watch here:

Communities in the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, and Hunter regions are on alert as heavy rainfall heads south from the Mid North Coast.

You can watch my colleague Sean Tarek Goodwin's report on this here:

Hi Toni,

Thank you for your question!

According to the NSW Government there currently 111 NSW public schools that are non-operational, as of 7:30pm.

Some of the public schools include:

• Aldavilla Public School
• Beechwood Public School
• Bulahdelah Central School
• Coolongolook Public School
• Dorrigo High School
• Kempsey High School
• Woolbrook Public School

The independent schools that are non-operational include:

• Bishop Druitt College
• Hunter Trade College
• Macleay Vocational College
• Tallowood Steiner School

The catholic schools which are closed include:

• Newman College - Port Macquarie
• St Augustine's - Coffs Harbour
• St Joseph's Primary Gloucester
• Mary Help Of Christians - Sawtell

For a full list of all the school closures for public and independent schools, click here and for the full list of catholic school closures click here.

Kempsey bakery owner Joel Connors says he's gone to extreme efforts to prevent his business from being hit by the heavy rain to come.

The bakery, which has been running for a couple of decades, has been sandbagged up with the help of surrounding businesses. 

"We’re trying not to panic and get upset but its hard."

Earlier this evening, police provided an update on the 60-year-old woman, whose body was recovered in the floods.

You can watch the video here:

Police have provided an update on the two men who have died as a result of the flood waters.

"The 60-year-old man was in his home, he was recovered yesterday."

Police say the second man who was in his 30s was on the road last night.

"He went missing, called for assistance because he was stuck in this vehicle," police say.

"In both circumstances they called for help. They rang and made phone calls for assistance from emergency services but unfortunately, we didn't get there in time," police say.

Police say they have had close to 600 rescues.

"We have actually had around 590 flood rescues during the course of this operation so it is a significant number of people that have needed to be rescued," police say.

"There have been fast flowing waters and some of those [rescues] have been done by helos [helicopters], as we have seen in the media.

"Some significant rescues have been made but unfortunately we have lost a number of lives."

Police say the family of the deceased woman found today have been informed of her death.

"Detectives will be speaking further to the family tonight and because of the circumstances we will assign a family liaison officer to liaise with family, to have that ongoing involvement," police say.

"We all have detectives investigate the matter and put it towards the coroner"

Police say all the deaths in the floods will be referred to the coroner.

The woman and a police officer were driving in a convoy at about 7pm last night.

The pair reached floodwaters and the police officer told the woman he could not continue with his sedan. 

At the time, the water levels were ankle deep.

The police officer gave the woman his phone number and told her not to continue through floodwaters.

The woman kept driving.

The woman rang 30 minutes later in trouble, but police were unable to find her last night.

Her body was found today in her 4WD.

She is yet to be formally identified.

Police are speaking now and have confirmed the third death is a woman in her 60s.

It marks the flood disaster's third death after the bodies of a man in his 30s was found near Wauchope, and a 63-year-old man was found in his flooded home at Moto, near Taree.

The woman in her 60s was travelling between Armidale and Coffs Harbour last night when her car reportedly became trapped in floodwaters on Morora Road, Brooklana - about 30km west of Coffs Harbour, police say.

Police searched the area, but they were unable to locate the woman or her vehicle.

The woman was found deceased in her car today.

New South Wales Police are holding a press conference now.

We will be blogging the presser and you can watch it at the top of the blog.

Farmer Joshua Hack has urged the government for support during one of the worst floods in Taree since 1929. 

"Up in Brisbane when they had the cyclone there was every single politician lining up 10 deep," he said.

"Here we are in the worst flood ever. And we're just not seeing anything [help] at the moment."

BOM hazards manager Steve Bernasconi says Taree is experiencing the highest flood of more than 90 years. 

"This has been the highest flood of record since 1929 at six metres [in Taree]," he says.

"I suspect there might not be someone with actual living memory of that particular flooding."

Police have confirmed the bodies of three people have been found, and one remains missing in floodwaters on the Mid North Coast.

Police will hold a press conference at 6.30pm.

Birpai elder, Uncle Russell Saunders, says his mob used to be able to read the signs of coming floods and get to higher ground.

"We see the damage now because I look across the farmland now and all I see is roofs of houses and water," Uncle Russ said.

Purfleet mission is where many Birpai were moved to and still live today.

Uncle Russ says it's a place which isn't affected now (apart from road closures), but if they had the choice, they'd be camping up higher.

His father taught him how to read the signs.

He remembers seeing a carpet snake curled up on the banks of the river, then half a dozen more.

"My dad said to me, 'We're going to get a flood,'" he said.

"So he knew just by looking at these carpet snakes close by the water, he read that and sure enough, we got a flood."

Looking for an up-to-date summary of the unfolding weather situation across NSW?

Here's a great wrap from my colleagues:

The latest severe weather warning is in from the Bureau of Meteorology (updated at 5.08pm AEST)

A coastal trough is moving south from the Mid North Coast, bringing heavy rain, storms, and a risk of flash flooding.

Areas like Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, and Dorrigo have already seen major rainfall, with totals exceeding 300mm in some places.

The worst of the rain is expected to ease tonight in the north, but will continue into Friday for areas further south, including the Southern Hunter, Blue Mountains, and Southern Highlands.

Flash flooding remains a risk, especially in hilly and coastal areas.

Mr Albanese was asked on ABC Radio Sydney if he was making plans to visit the Mid North Coast to assess the floods damage, to which he said "yes".

"We'll put those arrangements in place and certainly it is a terrible situation and it's always a balance — you don't want to get in the way of rescues as well," he noted.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has echoed concerns about the "devastating" floods on the Mid North Coast.

"This is a really dangerous situation," he told ABC Radio Sydney.

"The Australian Defence Force remains ready to provide assistance and we're continuing to work across the three levels of government.

"At a time like this, once again, we see at the worst of times the best of the Australian character."

Mr Albanese confirmed he had been briefed by the NSW premier on the situation, including the confirmation of two deaths.

"Our hearts go out to the friends and and family and the community," he said of the victims' loved ones.

"A shout out to those volunteers in the SES and other organisations like the Rural Fire Service, who are out there helping their neighbours, helping their community and indeed, travelling into the area as well to provide further assistance."

On Wednesday, Coopernook Rural Fire Service captain Sherrie Gaul was getting phone calls from people isolated by flooding and in need of rescue.

She says she couldn't go to sleep knowing people could be in danger.

So she and members of her brigade commandeered an SES boat to rescue 17 people and 10 dogs.

"Some had been waiting over a day," she said.

"They were cold, they were wet, they were just so grateful that we got them the help they needed.

"It's a multi-agency disaster relief right now and there is never going to be enough RFS, SES, police to help every single person.

"We all rallied together, did what we had to do, and had a great outcome.

"I stand by what we did."

SES Commissioner Mike Wassing was asked about the situation at a media conference on Thursday.

He said there were safety aspects to be considered when civilians became involved in rescues, but the SES had arrangements for "spontaneous volunteers" to co-ordinate them in a safe manner.

"I would say up-front, it's not a bad thing, locals helping locals," he said.