NSW floods: Young parents welcome baby girl in Taree as rain submerges town centres and isolates thousands

Tireless hospital staff including some unable to return return home due to deadly flooding on Australia’s east coast have been praised after helping deliver a healthy baby girl.

Poppy Goulden was born via caesarean on Thursday at Manning Hospital in Taree, a region among the hardest hit, with homes, cars and businesses underwater.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tragedy as mid-north coast floods turn deadly.

Following her birth at 9.30am, Poppy’s relieved father Josh said staff had been “absolutely unreal” in trying circumstances.

“They’re pulling crazy hours, pushing through like troopers considering everything at the moment,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.

“Some can’t even get home themselves.”

Goulden said it was “surreal” to see the level of devastation in the NSW Mid-North Coast and Hunter regions.

He and his wife Tianne used back and side streets for the 10-minute drive from their home to the hospital on Wednesday, to ensure their car was not submerged.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

“It definitely added an extra level of stress.

“It was scary thinking ‘will we get to the hospital, will they have staff?’”

Goulden said the widespread destruction unfolding around him was playing on his mind, particularly given his time as a former first responder.

“I really feel for people — they’re losing their homes, having to be rescued. My boss was airlifted to safety,” he said.

The family, including mum, baby and a proud nine-year-old sister, are doing well and hope to be out of hospital in a few days.

Goulden was hopeful his home, which sits at a highpoint, will survive the extreme conditions.

The Mid-North Coast and Hunter region have been the worst impacted by flooding in recent days, leaving several town centres under water and close to 50,000 people isolated.

Emergency warnings are active in 40 areas including Croki, Macksville, Dungog, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Nambucca, Wingham, Bowraville, Gloucester and Taree, where 524mm of rain has fallen since Monday.

Disaster assistance has been activated in 16 local government areas.

Three people have died — including a 63-year-old at Moto, north of Taree and a man in his 30s at Rosewood near Port Macquarie — and at least one other person is missing.

Acting NSW Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said the SES had been in contact with the 63-year-old before he died, adding an existing medical condition might have factored in.

Premier Chris Minns expressed “grave fears” for other missing people and encouraged communities to brace for more tragic news.

“The grim reality is the communities on the Mid-North Coast will have to brace for potentially more bad news in the days ahead,” Minns said.

Taree’s Manning River is falling after reaching a record height of 6.45m, while the levee has been overtopped in Kempsey.

A fleet of helicopters, 500 boats and 2500 personnel have allowed the NSW SES to respond to 4000 incidents since the weather event began on Sunday.

About a third of more than 500 flood rescues were due to people driving into flood waters, the premier said.

Scores of livestock have been washed down rivers, with survivors ending up on beaches and in town centres.

More heavy rain is forecast over the Mid-North Coast in the next 24 hours.

Officials have begged people to avoid flood waters, follow other related warnings and evacuate areas early if it is safe to do.

- With AAP