Around 50,000 people are still isolated, emergency services personnel said, as they look to ramp up efforts to supply essential supplies after weather conditions eased.

Days of heavy rain in the Australian state of New South Wales turned deadly as record floodwaters trapped people in their cars and homes.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday the clean-up had begun in the country's southeast after floods killed five people and inundated more than 10,000 properties.