All Trevor Foster's family has found of him is his hat.
The 81-year-old was swept away by the flooded Ouse River on Tuesday and his body still hasn't been found.
Mr Foster's nephew Darren Hawkins was comforted by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as he visited damaged areas in Latrobe on Thursday.
"He was a loved man, so we all miss him," Mr Hawkins told the Labor leader.
"Hopefully they find him and the whole family can move on then and put him to rest."
Mr Shorten briefly suspended his official election campaign to tour impacted regions of northern Tasmania, inspecting damaged businesses and homes and meeting emergency volunteers.
Mr Hawkins' house was badly damaged in the flooding, but his immediate concern is his uncle.
"They found his hat in the tree somewhere but they haven't found him yet, hopefully when the water subsides a little bit ... I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."
Mr Shorten paid tribute to emergency services and volunteers, while acknowledging the tragic loss of life and severe damage suffered in Tasmania.
"What we see in the worst of times, the best of Australians," he told reporters.
"What we also see is communities rallying around each other."
One of those communities is Latrobe, where local basketball coach and life member of the local basketball club Emma Forbes is collecting clothing, toys and food for flood victims.
A few of her junior basketballers, aged 5-11, either lost their homes or can't access them and Ms Forbes wants to help them get through the next period.
But after posting the idea on Facebook, the project quickly turned into a much bigger one.
"It's just gone crazy," Ms Forbes told AAP.
"People just wanted to be able to help." She says it's devastating seeing homes destroyed, but the tight-knit community has banded together to donate hundreds of items of clothing and pairs of shoes.
"Disasters can bring out the best in people," she said.
Earlier Mr Shorten received a flood briefing from the Northern State Emergency Services hub, before telling volunteers the nation was lucky to have them.
About 60 volunteers have sacrificed 2200 hours at the centre since Saturday.
Unfortunately, they can't save everyone.
Mary Kathleen Allford, 75, died on Monday after being stranded on the roof of her flooded Latrobe home.
The northern regional SES team took her call before she was swept into the water as police rescued her husband.
Their boss, regional officer Michael D'alton, says taking those calls can be as distressing as going out in the field.
"That's where we've got to look after the welfare of our people," he told AAP.
The floods are being described as a one-in-70-year event.
Mr Shorten put partisanship and election issues to one side. However, he did urge governments to contemplate more flood mitigation.
He has no doubt without levies, Launceston would have experienced a "much greater" disaster.
