4 dead, 1 missing in eastern Australia floods

SYDNEY, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Four people have died and one is missing in floodwaters in the eastern Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).

NSW Police said in a statement that the body of a man was found in a car in floodwaters near the small town of Nana Glen, about 450 km northeast of Sydney, on Friday morning.

The vehicle was spotted about 4:30 a.m. by a passing motorist, who notified police. Officers and State Emergency Service (SES) members attended the scene and found the body of a man, believed to be aged in his 70s, inside the vehicle. NSW Police said he appeared to be the sole occupant of the vehicle.

It marks the fourth death in the widespread flooding crisis that has hit several NSW regions north of Sydney.

NSW Police said on Thursday night that the body of a woman aged in her 60s was recovered from a vehicle in floodwaters near the town of Brooklana, about 430 km northeast of Sydney, on Thursday afternoon.

The woman had been missing since Wednesday night when she called authorities for help after her vehicle became stuck. An initial search on Wednesday night was unable to locate the woman or her vehicle.

Her body was found in the vehicle when the search resumed on Thursday, a police statement said.

The body of a 63-year-old man was found at a flooded property in the hardest-hit Mid North Coast region on Wednesday afternoon, and a 34-year-old man who went missing while driving through floodwaters on Wednesday night was found dead on Thursday morning.

A fourth man, aged 49, remains missing after failing to return home from walking near a flooded roadway on Wednesday evening.

Rainfall started to ease in the Mid North Coast and neighboring regions on Friday morning following five consecutive days of torrential downpours.

Despite the easing conditions, NSW SES superintendent Dallas Burnes told Australian Broadcasting Corporation that authorities are concerned that river levels may rise again and are expecting another "busy day."

He said that 678 flood rescue operations have been conducted since Sunday and that about 50,000 people remained isolated by floodwaters on Friday morning. Enditem