A hero dad insisted his family board lifeboats from his flooded rural property before opting to stay behind with his animals just hours before he died in the floodwaters.
Police discovered the body of David Knowles, 63, at his property on North Moto Road near Coopernook about 3pm on Wednesday, after a neighbour saw him on the verandah.
Acting NSW Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said the SES had been in contact with the man before he died, adding an existing medical condition might have factored in.
His daughter, Stacey Hurrell, told Daily Mail Australia his best friend Wayne 'Hipshot' Drury led a team of rescuers to his property that afternoon.
But, instead of boarding the limited number of lifeboats, her selfless father turned the help in the direction of his family.
The 63-year-old opted to stay behind with his blind dog and 30-head herd of cattle, before the rising Landsdowne River caught him in his home.
Ms Hurrell said she was 'p*ed off' and 'sad', adding she had blocked out the news and was instead focused on looking after her community.
A hero dad who died in the NSW floodwaters is being remembered for his final selfless act
Police discovered the body of David Knowles, 63, at his home on North Moto Road near Coopernook about 3pm on Wednesday (he is pictured second from left)
Ms Hurrell said the local heroes, led by Mr Drury, deserved a 'medal of recognition for all the families they've saved'.
He and friends, including men from the local Stones Oyster Co Op, used their equipment and strength for 'day and night' rescues since Wednesday morning.
'(They have) saved st loads of families compared to the SES... the SES don't know the river systems like the locals do,' she said.
'They are all fathers; they have the drive to save people, because they've needed saving before.'
When Ms Hurrell left her father's home at 12.30pm the floodwaters were rising, but only a puddle separated the driveway from the road.
By 3pm searchers turned up in a boat, riding the risen waters.
Ms Hurrell said Mr Knowles was a generous man.
'He was a man with the biggest heart,' she said.
His home was flooded on Wednesday afternoon, before rescuers found his body
Coopernook locals have used their watercraft to 'save sh*t loads of families' from fast-rising waters
'He'd give you his last dollars.'
The tight-knit local community has rallied around each other as properties plunged under the waterline.
Locals have busied themselves bringing supplies in from out of town where possible, and raiding their own flooded homes for blankets and towels to share in evacuation centres.
It comes as three other people are missing in the floods spread across the state.
Premier Chris Minns expressed 'grave fears' for three missing people and encouraged communities to brace for more tragic news in coming days.
A 25-year-old male and his vehicle are missing around Wauchope, believed to have driven into floodwater.
Another 49-year-old man in Nymboida is believed to have walked into floodwaters and remains missing, while a 60-year-old woman in Dorrigo also cannot be found.
'The grim reality is the communities on the mid-north coast will have the brace for potentially more bad news in the days ahead,' Mr Minns said.
A slow-moving trough is bringing heavy falls of 200-300mm to regions in New South Wales
A woman is seen being winched to safety from a rooftop in Taree, in NSW's northeast
The feared deaths have forced officials to yet again beg people to avoid flood waters, follow other related warnings and evacuate areas early if it is safe to do.
'I will not compromise the safety of my people or any other emergency services people, highly-trained people ... what the community can do is to help us,' NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said.
Some 50,000 people have been warned they could be isolated on Thursday amid dozens of emergency warnings.
The NSW SES had responded to 3068 incidents in three days, with 339 flood rescues in the 24 hours to Thursday 5am alone.
Almost all flood rescue requests from the past 24 hours have been worked through, but another 33 were lodged by 11am on Thursday.
Scores of the rescues have been due to entering flood waters, the premier said.
Prolonged heavy rainfall is set to continue throughout the afternoon, with Kempsey and Coffs Harbour among the communities on high alert for flash flooding.
Falls between 200-300mm over the next 24 hours are likely and may lead to flash flooding around the North Coast communities of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Woolgoolga, Sawtell and Dorrigo.
The deluge has spread to the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands as a slow-moving trough dumped rain along Australia's east coast.
The NSW SES said it had responded to 1,023 incidents, including 339 flood rescues, in the 24 hours to 5am.
More than 100 rescues in Taree, Glenthorne, Oxley Island and Motowere were outstanding on Thursday morning.
SES Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said conditions had been challenging.
'We've seen continual rainfall and very fast flowing rivers which, when combined with flooded roads, have made it very difficult to access some isolated people,' he said.