Two cousins, a 26-year-old woman and a 27-year-old woman, and a dog were travelling inside a small car when they tried to drive through floodwaters at Black Creek on Old North Road in Rothbury on Saturday night.

The car became bogged down, and the women exited before being swept away.

The 27-year-old was able to surface and save her dog, but the 26-year-old was missing.

Her family were “distraught” when they were notified by police. 

Search crews have been scouring the area since and found a body today.

The body has yet to be formally identified, but is believed to be the missing 26-year-old.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner. 

The cousins were Chinese nationals who were living in Sydney on working visas, according to Detective Superintendent Steve Laksa.

They had been staying in Cessnock for the weekend when heavy rainfall hit and caused flooding in the Hunter region, as well as other parts of the state.

Rainfall totals reached 100mm in the Hunter, New England, Mid North Coast and Coffs Coast regions, prompting about 40 warnings across impacted areas.

The SES received more than 4300 calls, responded to more than 2300 incidents, including 34 flood rescues, since late last week.