Canberra man dies in 'savage' floodwaters

A Canberra man has died in what police described as "savage floodwaters", so powerful they flipped his two-tonne ute.

Police, while rescuing two 17-year-old teenagers in a separate incident on the Cotter River on Sunday afternoon, spotted the man trapped mid-stream in his dual-cab ute.

As officers tried to work out how to reach the 37-year-old, his ute flipped and disappeared.

Officers at the scene throughout the night before the man's body was retrieved from an island on Monday morning, 200 metres downstream from where the car was first spotted.

ACT Policing Sergeant Harry Hains says the weather conditions at the time were extreme.

"The floodwaters yesterday ... were extremely strong, savage, with a lot of debris, large logs coming down the river," he told reporters in Canberra.

It's unknown whether the man tried to call for help, but mobile phone reception in the area is poor.

The weekend deluge has prompted renewed warnings from police and emergency services about the danger of driving through floodwaters.

"These types of weather conditions, extreme weather conditions we've experienced do lead adventure-seeking type people to seek mud with their four-wheel drives," Sergeant Hains said.

"There is no risk worth taking to cross a flooded river to go and seek some piece of dirt to drive your four-wheel drive on."

Officers are still trying to retrieve the man's significantly damaged vehicle.

Meanwhile the teenagers, who were out four-wheel driving, are fine "quite happily home with their mums and dads where they should be", Sergeant Hains said.

The SES has received nearly 200 calls for help in the ACT.