'It was like a tidal wave': NSW residents lucky to escape rapidly rising floodwaters

One person has been found dead, another is still missing and hundreds more were lucky to escape after floodwaters swept through Central West New South Wales.

Sheep farmer Dee Buttle, who lives upstream from Eugowra, said it all became too much for her when the water rapidly rose around her.

"This is devastating, absolutely devastating," Buttle said.

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"I just ran. It was like a tidal wave."

In a video she filmed of the floods, she apologised to her husband who was saving animals on a second property.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save anything, I just had to save my life," she could be heard saying.

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Alone and isolated, she watched as her home and everything she and her husband worked for was washed away.

But Buttle said she was still thankful to find higher ground.

Further downstream at Eugowra, 86-year-old Jeanette thought she'd seen it all.

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"It breaks my heart every time. I can't believe so much mud can be left," Jeanette said.

"In 1990 it didn't even come in. It came around the house but it didn't come in."

But the water came in this time and while they put some of their belongings on lounge chairs, the family photos were damaged.

Photos that were once on the walls are now awash with mud, along with other cherished family heirlooms.

Jeanette has lived in Eugowra her whole life.

The house survived the great flood of the 1950s and even an earthquake, but this time it met its match.

Jeanette said she got out quickly, rounded up her friends and found safety.

Jeanette's son, David, said he feels shattered by the destruction of their home.

"I didn't know how to take it. I grew up here as a toddler and all that sort of stuff and yeah it's devastating," he said.

There are cars and homes in the area that were carried kilometres away.

With the flood waters raging around him, Anthony Robinson said he had to escape.

"It was just a three-foot wall of water just like a tsunami going right through town," Robinson said.

"I was in the driver's seat and then I climbed into the back seat with my dog."

Robinson said he then got out the back window of the car and went straight in through the house window.

He said once inside, he discovered the water was waist-deep and still rising, so they got onto the roof until they were able to be airlifted to safety.

Meanwhile, his house was also on the move.

It was picked up by the torrent and deposited 20 metres down the street.

The rain is a long way from over as the heartbreaking cleanup now begins.

The floodwaters have been moving across the central west of NSW and have now cut the town of Forbes in two.

"We don't need any more rain at the moment," David said.

For more information about how to help flood-affected communities, visit the Givit Flood Appeal website here.