Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has been briefed by State Emergency Services on severe storms that lashed NSW, killing at least two people and leaving one man missing.
Mr Shorten was joined by his deputy Tanya Plibersek at the SES Sydney Western Region Headquarters on Tuesday evening, where they met volunteers and inspected maps of impacted areas.
Acting deputy commissioner Mark Morrow met the Labor leadership team before introducing them to SES workers taking calls and monitoring flood situations.
As Mr Shorten toured the centre, flood monitor Ian Hyde explained officers had just successfully completed a rescue mission for a horse.
The SES was also monitoring an empty caravan floating down the Nepean River.
"We're trying to stress to people in even our statements, don't cross flooded waterways," Mr Shorten said.
"At some point this is where you have to exercise commonsense.
"Because you can't see what's in the river, it only takes some of the debris to knock you off your feet."
Region controller Peter Cinque said the SES had performed 300 flood rescues state-wide since Saturday, with 49 in a 30-minute period on Sunday night.
Mr Hyde said people took risks in floodwater, explaining SES workers came across people wading into the heavily flooded Nepean River "just to take photos".
SES volunteers say floodwaters can mask roads that are completely washed away.
Mr Shorten inspected maps displaying impacted regions, before remarking "it's everywhere isn't it".
He and Ms Plibersek were then given a 10-minute severe weather briefing, where Mr Morrow detailed the SES activities, including taking 10,500 calls for help since Saturday.
The SES has 10,000 volunteers across 17 regions of NSW, he says.
Despite widespread damage across the state, including severe damage in Milperra, Picton and Collaroy, Mr Morrow said the storms could have been worse.
"We were fairly lucky because east coast lows can track further inland and you get river and high catchments," he told Mr Shorten.
"This one tracked down the coast but it coincided with king tides."
About 80 children at Narrabeen Lake had to be boated out to safety after its levels rose quickly, while 700 homes on the foreshore were evacuated.
Mr Shorten asked SES workers if they were concerned about overdevelopment in some areas.
"It's always a concern," Mr Cinque said, especially in western Sydney.
"It's about getting that balance between development, mitigation and emergency response."
The opposition leader was thanked for taking time to understand the situation.
"We all know there's an election on but in moments like this Australians, rightly, want to see support for what you're doing," Mr Shorten said.
"There's a lot of Australians who are grateful to you."
Ms Plibersek chimed in "we just wanted to say thank you too".
