Floods push Australia to seek overseas help

Defence force personnel and international flood specialists from New Zealand and Singapore arrived in Australia and will be deployed across the inland state of New South Wales, as communities experience near-record flooding.

Floodwaters in Forbes, in the state's central west, are peaking. A thousand residents are still displaced, and homes and businesses have been inundated.

Flooding in the town of Condobolin is at its highest level since records began. Dozens of inland towns are still at risk of major flooding and more than a hundred warnings are currently in place.

200 defence force personnel and flood specialists from New Zealand and Singapore are being deployed to the region to assist local crews.

Meanwhile a rescue helicopter crew winched an elderly couple, their daughter and two dogs from their home, which was surrounded by rising floodwater on Wednesday night. The house, on the outskirts of Forbes, was inaccessible by rescue boat or vehicle.