The torrential rain that has battered the NSW east coast has claimed a fourth life, with a body being pulled from floodwaters in the NSW Hunter region.
Cyclonic conditions have lashed Sydney and surrounding regions with a severe weather warning still in place for the Illawarra while residents in Sydney's southwest have been ordered to evacuate after the Georges River broke its banks.
As night fell in Maitland on Wednesday, a rescue operation turned to grim recovery.
Police divers retrieved the body of an elderly woman whose car was swept into Wallis Creek along Cessnock Road at about 9am as witnesses watched on in horror.
Despite initial fears that two women had drowned, officials now believe the hatchback's driver was its sole occupant.
Three people from a second car were rescued at the same location, while a mother and her baby were also saved from rising waters nearby.
With authorities advising the worst was over, stories from some of the worst-hit areas continued to emerge, with the town of Dungog where three people were killed and homes washed away described as a "war zone".
Three people were killed in Dungog, after a flash flood swept through the town on Tuesday morning.
Colin Webb, 79, Brian Wilson, 72 and Robin MacDonald, 68, were all believed to have been trapped in their residences with the men caught in their retirement village homes while Ms MacDonald had refused to leave her pets.
NSW Premier Mike Baird has urged people in the worst-hit areas to "hang tough", confirming Dungog, bucketed with 300 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, along with Maitland and parts of the Central Coast, would be declared natural disaster zones.
"With the storm easing, we're beyond that and what's going to be the key focus is getting our communities back on their feet," Mr Baird said.
"To give you a sense of the size and scope - in Dungog there's more rain that has come down in the last 24 hours than they have seen in a 24-hour period for the past century."
Helicopters had been dispatched to assess the damage.
"It's like a war-zone," Fire & Rescue NSW Superintendent Greg Rankin said.
Dungog resident Colleen Jones spoke of the horror of the rising floodwaters and watching her home be washed away.
"We just got out," she said just metres from where her home was ripped from its foundations.
"I was just terrified," she told AAP.
"It is just unbelievable, the current of water. It is just heartbreaking.
"It was just horrific to watch, just to see your house crumble."
As of Wednesday evening, more than 205,000 homes were without power.
More than 110 people had been rescued from floodwaters, while emergency services had responded to more than 11,100 calls for help since Monday.
So far there have been more than 19,500 insurance claims across NSW.
The opening of Sydney harbour brought to an end a long, uncomfortable wait off shore for more than 2000 passengers aboard a cruise ship that had been prevented from entering on Tuesday.
The Carnival Spirit docked at Circular Quay on Wednesday morning.
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