An engineering student who died trying to flee his car in the NSW floods had moved to Australia just two years ago to chase a better life. 

Pakistani national Ayaz Younas was on his way to a final interview for a new job when his Toyota Camry became trapped in floodwaters in Glenorie on Sydney’s northern outskirts.

The inside of the 25-year-old’s car was badly damaged, indicating to police that he frantically battled to save his life and escape as waters rose around him.

Burhan Mirza, who went to Charles Sturt University with Mr Younas, told Daily Mail Australia the young student was ‘excited’ to start a new life Down Under.   

‘He always told me he move to Australia for a better life with dreams of becoming a permanent resident with a good job and a healthy life,’ Mr Mirza said.

‘But nobody knew it would end like this.

‘Ayaz was very kind, always ready to help. He was fond of making friends and [was] great guy.’ 

Mr Mirza said his friend, who came to Australia two years ago from Karachi, worked at Domino’s Pizza while juggling several other jobs to fund his study of software engineering.

NSW Police Detective Inspector Chris Laird said Mr Younas called Triple-Zero at 6.25am on Wednesday and remained on the line with the operator until about 7am.

‘Had he not rung us, we never would have found him. Not until the water receded anyway,’ Det Insp Laird said.

‘But we can only speculate that given what I have seen and the damage to the vehicle that it could very well be that the electrics totally failed, and he was simply unable to escape from the car which is an absolute tragedy.

‘You can only just imagine somebody fighting for their life to get out of the car — that’s what the inside damage of the vehicle looked like.’

Det Insp Laird said Mr Younas ‘clearly couldn’t get out’ of the car as there were no broken windows.

He said the roads had multiple signs and closure warnings, but the car was located 30m into floodwaters and 6m under water.

Emergency crews recovered Mr Younas’ body at 1pm after finding his submerged car.

Det Insp Laird suggested there would be investigations into why Mr Younas was in the area.

‘The remote location of the area, (we’ll ask) questions about what he was doing up there. He may not have known the area as locals would,’ he said.

There was also a padlocked gate blocking off the road, but it was submerged.   

The Pakistani Community of Australia said it had spoken to Mr Younas’ father.

Community leader Farhat Jaffri said Mr Younas’ heartbroken family requested that his body be sent back to Karachi in southern Pakistan. 

Mr Younas, who has two elder brothers and one younger sister, was from Malir Cantt in Karachi and studied software engineering. 

Shazbaz Muhammad said Mr Younas was a ‘dear friend’. 

‘Please pray for the departed soul,’ Mr Muhammad said.   

Det Insp Laird said the 25-year-old had strong roots in western Sydney, and that his friends in Australia were devastated by the news.

‘From the police force, all emergency services, here is the very reason why you should not make any attempt to drive through swollen rivers,’ he said. 

Emergency Services Minister David Elliott offered his condolences, saying it would send ripples through the northwest Sydney community.

‘The human cost of these floods has been brought into sharp focus in the most tragic of circumstances and I urge communities to continue to be cautious in the face of continued and imminent threats to life,’ Mr Elliott said. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also made statements in federal parliament about the tragedy.

Mr Morrison labelled Wednesday a ‘terribly sad day’, saying he knew the area well from childhood camping trips and felt for the man’s family. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was still extreme danger in flood-hit areas despite the clear weather in Sydney on Wednesday. 

‘Whilst the sun is out conditions remain extremely dangerous, rivers are still rising,’ she said.

‘We ask everybody, especially if they are in vehicles to be extra cautious.

‘Some would suggest it is even more dangerous now as rivers continue to rise and catchments fill up with water.’ 

In Queensland, a desperate search for David Hornman, 38, ended when his body was found inside his ute in the Gold Coast hinterland on Wednesday afternoon. 

The 38-year-old father was last seen on Monday and had not contacted his family since heading to a job in the Tamborine area, where torrential rain caused flash flooding this week.

His ute was spotted earlier in the day in the flooded Canungra Creek. 

Mr Hornman’s desperate wife had been active on social media, appealing for help from anyone who saw him.

‘He didn’t turn up to work and hasn’t been able to be reached since. His phone is turned off,’ Angela Hornman posted on Facebook on Tuesday.

‘I just have to know he’s ok. Please tell him no matter what I LOVE HIM.’   

Meanwhile, residents in one part of the NSW Mid North Coast have been allowed to return home as emergency services warn some of the state’s rivers will remain swollen into the weekend and flooding is still a risk.

The areas of continued concern include Moree in the NSW northwest, the Upper Hunter around Singleton, Grafton, parts of the Central Coast and the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment northwest of Sydney.

Seventeen flood evacuation orders remain in place affecting people living in low-lying areas of Ulmarra, Brushgrove and on Wednesday night another evacuation order was issued for Cowper on the Clarence River in northern NSW.

Major flooding was occurring at Grafton, Ulmarra and Maclean on Thursday morning.

There is still major flooding along the Hawkesbury River and authorities said it was likely to continue at North Richmond and Windsor until the end of the week.

Helicopters are being used to deliver emergency supplies to isolated communities around the Hawkesbury River. 

Almost 24,000 people in NSW have been evacuated and despite the clear weather, about 60,000 people have been told by the SES to be ready to evacuate with major flood warnings still in place for the Macintyre, Gwydir, Clarence and Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo rivers.  

There have been 11,000 calls for help to the SES so far, and 950 flood rescues.