Thousands of residents in Sydney's west have returned home to begin the post-flood clean up, however the freak weather event is still wreaking havoc in the north.
Floodwaters are still rising in the NSW Hunter region, putting pressure on residents and emergency services.
A 72-year-old woman is lucky to be alive after her car was trapped in floodwaters up to her neck.
She was in her SUV when it was swept away in floodwaters 15km north of Kempsey on the Mid North Coast of NSW at 2pm yesterday.
The car became wedged against trees and she was unable to get out.
She managed to call triple zero, and a police officer, attached by a safety line to a police 4WD, waded into the water.
After getting the door open, he and other officers got her back to dry land.
The woman was treated for hypothermia and exhaustion at Kempsey Hospital.
"It was a situation that had really shaken her and caused her quite some distress," Sergeant Brad Smith said.
This is just one of the hundreds of flood rescues emergency services have carried out as the extreme weather event takes its toll on communities.
A 10-month-old boy was rescued with his mum from their flooded property in Bulga late yesterday by Surf Life Savers.
"To be able to do our part successfully and get the patients to the ambulance was a pretty humbling experience," Surf Life Saver Lee Archer said.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet paid tribute to volunteers helping those caught in the flood crisis.
He also expressed his frustration at people driving through floodwaters.
"Of the 50 rescues that have occurred in the last 24 hours, a number of those rescues are still people in vehicles, driving through floodwaters," Perrottet said.
"Please don't make an assessment that you can get through the flood waters."
He even lent a helping hand to the clean up efforts in the Hawkesbury.
Rainfall eases but residents warned about returning home
At least 36 evacuation warnings remain in place across NSW with authorities warning the wild weather may be easing but floodwaters are still high.
"If those evacuation warnings are in place, please get ready to evacuate," Perrottet said.
"If those orders are in place, please leave as soon as you can."
The current evacuation warnings affect 60,000 people across NSW.
The Bureau of Meteorology said up to 300 millimetres of rain was recorded over the past 24 hours, particularly on the Mid North Coast.
For some residents, they are able to return to their flood-damaged homes today but NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke has asked people to take caution.
"The flooding emergency is winding down, the recovery efforts are winding up," she said.
"The SES has conducted near on 800 rapid damage assessments in the past 24 hours."
She warned people not to engage in risky behaviour in an effort to dry out their homes.
"Please keep your clothes at least a metre away from your heaters," Cooke said.
"Please don't use outdoor heating equipment and outdoor cooking equipment inside.
"There are carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide risks.
"We want to avoid any tragedy on top of the heartache we've already experienced."
Disaster payments will be available from today, and thousands are still under evacuation orders in Sydney's north-west.
Weather set to improve in the coming days
Meteorologists said the weather chaos has eased with floodwaters in Sydney's north west and the Hunter region expected to continue to decrease in the coming days.
"Good news for the Singleton is that it's likely we'll see the river levels decrease," meteorologist Diana Eadie said.
"That being said, Maitland is still at risk and we could see major flooding at 10.5 metres.
Firefighters share photos of inferno threatening homes
"And the good news is in terms of looking ahead, while those river level conditions will only slowly start to lower, it does look likely that we're not going to see a return of those significant rainfall totals in the days ahead."
Some showers are forecast for Sunday, but the bureau is not expecting any heavy falls in NSW over the next week.
