Wild winds and heavy rain have hit the NSW north coast, triggering severe weather and flood warnings.
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 200 calls for help in the 24 hours to 2pm on Saturday with the agency preparing for more as conditions worsen through the evening.
Two adults and an infant had to be rescued from rising floodwaters in Cougal, west of Tweed Heads, while there was another rescue in nearby Uki as a car towing a vehicle got stuck on a causeway.
About 2200 homes and businesses had been left without power due to high winds and fallen trees, according to Essential Energy.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds with gusts of up to 90 kph tipped for the north coast and Border Ranges for much of the afternoon.
Our first flood rescue of the day is in Uki, approximately 15 mins southwest of Murwillumbah. A caravan attempted to cross a flooded causeway and got stuck, but thankfully, everyone is safe. It's important to remember if you come across flooded roads, find an alternative route. — NSW SES (@NSWSES) pic.twitter.com/Hs4q3ocFSUSeptember 28, 2024
The SES issued a Flood Watch and Act for Thora, Upper Thora and Darkwood over a minor to moderate flood warning for the Bellinger River, with communities there told to prepare to isolate for several days.
"You may be trapped without power, water, and other essential services and it may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you," an alert from the agency said.
"Make sure you have essential supplies prepared to last for at least three to five days, including food, drinking water, medications, pet food, and animal feed."
Locals were well prepared and it was good to see a low number of rescues, an SES spokesman told AAP.
"They're a resilient community that, unfortunately, are all too familiar with flooding situations and they're very, very responsive," he said.
Wet, windy weather continues across northern — Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) #NSW & far south #Qld. A moderate #Flood Warning is in place for the Bellinger River (NSW Mid North Coast) & several rivers are on Flood Watch. Damaging winds & dangerous surf is impacting coastal areas. Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh pic.twitter.com/b46wo6yL4DSeptember 28, 2024
The majority of calls for help so far related to fallen trees or leaky roofs.
The SES expected the number of incidents to increase into Sunday morning.
Extra crews were on standby with the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers currently under flood watch.
A coastal hazard warning for damaging surf also applied to the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast, from Tweed Heads to Nambucca heads.
That included popular holiday spots such as Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay and Ballina.
"Beach conditions in these areas could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf-exposed areas," the bureau said.