Latrobe under water. Pic: @joannarenee87 on Instagram
Wild weather across the country has claimed three lives following three incidents in which cars were swept away in floodwaters.
And serious fears are held for two elderly people missing in Tasmania as heavy rain drenches the island state.
A man's body was found in a ute near Leppington, in south-west Sydney, on Monday morning following an extensive search for the car's occupants.
Locals reported seeing a white ute, possibly with two occupants, entering a causeway on Sunday evening and being washed away.
Others saw the ute floating down the river with its headlights on.
Following an extensive search of flooded areas by police divers and the State Emergency Service, police found the man's body in the ute about 11.30am on Monday.
The area around Leppington and Camden has suffered widespread flooding with paddocks and roadways submerged.
In the Southern Highlands:
A man has died after being trapped in his vehicle in Mittagong Creek.
On Monday morning, local police and assisting crew discovered a 65-year-old Mittagong man behind the wheel of his silver Mazda in Mittagong Creek.
In Canberra:
Meanwhile, a 37-year-old Kambah man has died after his ute was swept away in floodwaters in the Cotter River, as emergency services attempted to rescue him.
Police found the man stuck in his ute in floodwater just below the Cotter Dam near Murray's Corner on Sunday around 5pm.
Police along with State Emergency Service, water police, ACT Ambulance and ACT Fire and Rescue had been called to the region after a report of two young men stuck in a four-wheel-drive, unable to cross the river.
Those men were safely rescued, but in the course of trying to locate a safe exit point, they found the Kambah man stuck in a ute trying to cross what they believe was a bush track in floodwaters.
Police and emergency services were trying to assist the man when his vehicle was flipped by the floodwater and was swept away in front of his rescuers.
Station Sergeant Harry Hains (left) called the incident an "absolute tragedy". Pic: Graham Tidy
"A search was then undertaken and a short time later, police, along with emergency services, ACT Fire and Rescue, located what we believed to be a body stuck in raging floodwaters on an island in the middle of the river," Officer in Charge, Station Sergeant Harry Hains said.
He said police and emergency services worked on a plan together to try to retrieve the man, but it was not safe to do so on Sunday night, and police stayed on site overnight.
Rescuers reconvened at the scene on Monday morning, when they retrieved the body of the 37-year-old man.
Police confirmed the man was alive when they found him in the vehicle, but it is still unknown how long he had been stuck in the river before rescuers arrived on Sunday, with mobile service in the area "next to none".
"I'm sure you can imagine if you were stuck in a floodwater it would be a fairly distressing thing," Sergeant Hains said.
"The floodwaters yesterday ... were extremely strong, savage, with a lot of debris, large logs coming down the river. The force was enough to flip a 2-tonne ute."
The reasons why he was in the middle of the river will subject to a full police investigation and coronial review. The vehicle is yet to be recovered, but will be examined as part of the normal procedures in the investigation.
- Fleta Page
In Tasmania:
Search and rescue specialists are searching in Ouse after reports a man in his 80s may have been swept away by floodwaters.
Another elderly man was rescued by helicopter from his home in Latrobe earlier on Monday morning as water inundated his home, but his wife is missing.
Police and emergency workers are warning people not to drive through floodwaters for any reason.