Police believe the two bodies pulled from Western Sydney storm waters are likely a mother and son, who have been missing since Sunday afternoon.
Hermalathasolhyr Satchithanantham, 67, and her 34-year-old son Bramooth have not been seen since their Mazda3 was found in a stormwater canal at about 4:30pm Monday.
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Paul Devaney said a woman's body was found in Coopers Creek Canal near Hopkins St, Constitution Hill, about 8:30am.
Not long later, a man's body was found nearby, he said.
Police believe they are Ms Satchithanantham and Mr Bramooth.
"My heart goes out to the family and to the community. This is a mother, well we suspect it's a mother and a son," Detective Superintendent Devaney said.
"The mother was devoted to her 34-year-old son. It is just a tragedy for all involved."
He urged drivers to be careful in wet weather conditions.
"This is a timely and tragic reminder of the need to limit non-essential travel during these weather conditions," he said.
"The canal where the vehicle was located rose this morning from ankle deep to above neck height in a matter of minutes.
"Please don't put yourself or emergency services at risk. If it is flooded please don't go through the water. Forget it."
Premier Dominic Perrottet also paid tribute to the family.
"Our thoughts and prayers and hearts go out to their friends and their family and loved ones at this difficult time," he said.
A crime scene with detectives and emergency services has been set up at the end of Hopkins Street, with an investigation underway into how the car came to be in the canal.
Northern beaches on alert
Meanwhile, people in NSW are being urged to take evacuation orders seriously with the state bracing for a “tough 24 hours" as intense rainfall continues across the state.
The latest order for parts of Narrabeen in Sydney's northern beaches with the State Emergency Service (SES) warning residents they could be trapped without power, water and other essential services.
They said people in properties surrounding Narrabeen Lagoon should leave before 7pm, as it "may be too dangerous to rescue you" after that.
The order was lifted just before midnight with residents able to return home with "caution".
Earlier, an evacuation warning was issued for areas around Manly Dam after it started to overflow — about 2,000 people are impacted.
Flooded roads around Mackellar Girls Campus at Manly Vale have also prompted an evacuation warning for local business owners and residents with over 100mm of rain falling in some areas.
Northern Beaches Council has notified on social media that the Freshwater SLSC and the Seaforth Village Community Centre, in the Seaforth Town Centre, are open for people seeking shelter.
More than 10 evacuation orders are currently in place for the Sydney metropolitan area — including Camden, Mulgoa and Mulgrave — and Illawarra and the South Coast.
Parts of Scone on alert
The NSW Emergency Service has ordered residents in Scone in the Hunter region to evacuate the area because of flooding dangers.
The SES says rapidly rising floodwaters require immediate evacuation away from the Kingdon Ponds.
It says an evacuation centre is being opened at the Scone basketball stadium and the centre will be open by 3.00am Wednesday morning.
The areas that require immediate evacuation are Liverpool Street, St Aubins Street, Wingen Street, Kingdon Street, Aberdeen Street, Mount Street, Susan Street and Parker Street.
It comes after residents around Singleton in the Hunter were told to evacuate on Tuesday night...along with other residents in Sydney's Hawkesbury region.
However residents who were told to evacuate the Narrabeen area on Sydney's northern beaches after serious flash flooding on Tuesday, have been given the all clear to return home.
While the rain has eased across the State, the weather bureau is warning that the flood emergency is not over and wild winds will also potentially create havoc today, especially along the coast.
'Devastating week'
The rain will get worse through southern areas of the state on Tuesday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) Dean Narramore, with a further 50-150 millimetres expected in already drenched areas.
Between 100mm to 200mm of rainfall has fallen between Sydney and Ulladulla since 9am on Monday in what he described as a "devastating week".
Rain still smashing the Hawkesbury, Nepean Valley and including large areas of the Illawarra, extending all the way down to the South Coast.
“It’s a tough 24 hours, or even 48 hours ahead … we saw widespread heavy rainfall (overnight) and, in some areas, intense life-threatening rainfall that brought devastating flash flooding to some suburbs, particularly around the Canterbury and Liverpool area,” Mr Narramore said.
In the last 24 hours, the SES received more than 2,500 calls for assistance, Commissioner Carlene York said, with more than 100 rescues of mostly motorists driving through floodwaters.
About 200 Australian Defence Force troops are on standby for the Sydney metropolitan area, she said, in case evacuation assistance was required.
Ms York warned residents to take evacuation orders seriously.
“There is no past history similar to this event. We've come out of the La Nina … the ground is saturated. The forecasts can never tell us exactly where the heavy rainfall is going to fall and the flow of the water has been quite dramatic,” Ms York said.
“Listen to our orders and warnings, because your property may be affected even though it hasn't been affected before."
This afternoon the Nepean River peaked at 12m but continued to swell, with fears predicted heavy rains would see further rises.
Camden locals told the ABC they were still anxious after evacuation orders were issued late last night by the SES.
Residents were sent text messages, they were called on their landlines and emergency service crews also door-knocked homes in some areas.
They were urged to stay with friends or family or find alternative accommodation outside the flood areas.
A resident who had lived in the area for 11 years said he had never seen anything like it as he prepared to move things out of his house.
"I hope that the house will be OK ... We hope, fingers crossed, we will see what happens," he said.
"I'm going to my daughters' [place] and I hope that they won't be flooded."
Many have taken shelter in evacuation centres set up at Cabra-Vale Diggers Club in Canley Vale and Club Menai in Menai.
