IMG_2819 | Photo 02

The NSW Government has extended its disaster declaration to areas on the mid-north coast being buffeted by the same storms that have wreaked havoc from Queensland to Coffs Harbour.

NSW Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan on Saturday said the Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca and Port Macquarie-Hastings areas had been declared disaster zones.

The Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas were declared disaster zones by Premier Nathan Rees on Friday.

Flooding in northern NSW has prompted the evacuation of thousands of people and claimed the life of a 70-year-old man, whose body was found near his submerged vehicle.