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Deadly and devastating flood waters from the Hunter to the mid-north coast in New South Wales have subsided and a massive clean up blitz has begun.

Five people have been confirmed dead, more than 1,000 buildings deemed uninhabitable and flood damage inflicted on an estimated 10,000 properties.

About 3,500 people remain isolated, despite waters receding in recent days.

New aerial images show the scale of devastation.

Millers Forest, Maitland

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A property in Millers Forest, a suburb of Maitland in the Hunter Valley. / The same property on 26 May.

Recovery crews have removed 10,000 cubic metres of waste from affected areas and more than 1,500 tonnes of debris from roads, government officials said, with about 5,000 pot holes repaired.

“Recovery is going to take time,” the federal emergency services minister, Kristy McBain, told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“This isn’t going to be something that is done quickly and we’ve reiterated that we will be there for the long haul.”

Moto

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A property in Moto, north-east of Taree, on the mid-north coast. / The same property on 28 May.

About 6,000 NSW government staff and volunteers have been deployed.

The NSW minister for emergency services, Jihad Dib, told state parliament that more than 9,200 damage assessments have been conducted, with about 2,000 to go.

Many of the more than 1,000 buildings deemed uninhabitable may only be so for the short term.

Kinchela

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Another property in Moto, north-east of Taree, on the mid-north coast. / The same property on 28 May.

“In some of those cases, it’s just flooding over the floorboards, or minor damage,” he said.

“It doesn’t mean that they’re uninhabitable completely.”

But about 30 homes need “serious work” or are beyond repair.

Affected NSW farmers are also reeling in scenes similar to floods in Queensland earlier this year, where estimated stock losses totalled more than 150,000.

Ghinni Ghinni

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A property in Ghinni Ghinni, also on the mid-north coast. / The same property on 28 May.

With Australian Associated Press