“Damaging winds” are set to provide another obstacle for residents and emergency crews in clean-up mode after catastrophic floods.

Recovery efforts are under way in drenched communities along the NSW coast with the damage expected to take weeks to clear.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Aerial missions providing lifeline for thousands isolated in the NSW floods.

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Floodwaters are receding but National Emergency Management Agency deputy coordinator-general Joe Buffone said a severe cold front coming through South Australia and Victoria will likely impact large parts of NSW over the coming days.

“The main focus there is about wind, and the concern is about many trees going down,” Buffone said.

A severe weather warning has been issued for several regions, including the flood-weary Mid-North Coast, with residents told to prepare for peaks gusts of about 90km/h.

The Bureau of Meteorology said winds will increase across the Snowy Mountains and far southeast from Monday night, pushing up into Illawarra and Blue Mountains into Tuesday morning.

“Importantly we will also see strong winds (around) flood-affected parts of NSW and this could hamper those flood recovery efforts,” senior meteorologist Jonathan How said

“Winds will ease from the south during Tuesday but could persist across northern parts of NSW into Wednesday morning.

“We could see, with those winds, fallen trees and branches causing damage to property, dust and reduced visibility as well, and dangerous driving conditions and disruptions to services such as electricity if we see powerlines start to topple over.”

While river levels are dropping across the Mid-North Coast and Hunter regions, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged caution.

“There are still risks out there, and the impact of these winds – to be really explicit – common sense tells you the ground is really, really wet,” he said.

“You combine that with heavy winds, you combine that with trees and other structures, it is vulnerable – more vulnerable than usual – that they just come over and that potentially is a very dangerous situation.

“So, this will have an impact again, on top of the impact that the flooding has had, and it’s something that we really need people to be conscious of over the coming couple of days.”

The warning comes as residents in flood-stricken areas begin combing through their muddied possessions.

The number of homes deemed uninhabitable on the Mid-North Coast rose to 400 on Monday, with 12,000 residents in multiple towns isolated.

The after-effects of the floods that killed five people were “heartbreaking”, NSW Reconstruction Authority chief executive Mal Lanyon said.

“To see people’s possessions on sidewalks, to see the impact on dairy cattle, to see the impact right across this region is really difficult,” he said.

“But what it does do is steel us to stand alongside the community to make sure we provide support.”

Albanese said 70 Australian Defence Force personnel would be dispatched from Tuesday to help with recovery and clean-up efforts.

“The presence of ADF personnel on the ground brings enormous confidence to communities that are really doing it tough,” he said.

“It’s a sign of how seriously we, as a nation, are taking what is a catastrophic event.”

Another 100 people, mostly veterans, from non-government group Disaster Relief Australia, and volunteers from grassroots groups will bolster support on the ground.

More than 3500 damage assessments have been completed, resulting in 400 homes deemed uninhabitable around Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne.

The figure is expected to rise sharply as damage to an estimated 10,000 properties is evaluated.

Insurers have received more than 3500 claims so far, 80 per cent of which are personal property claims.

Those who have lost income in the four worst-affected areas can apply via myGov for support equivalent to JobSeeker for up to 13 weeks.

- With AAP