Death toll in Australia floods rises to four

Record floods cut a destructive path through eastern Australia, caking houses in silt, washing out roads and separating 50,000 people from help.

Four bodies have been pulled from vast tides of floodwater engulfing parts of northern New South Wales, a fertile region of rivers and valleys some 400km up the coast from Sydney.

Salvage crews were preparing to embark on a major clean-up operation as waters started receding this morning, surveying the damage from half a year's worth of rain dumped in just three days.