Incredible aerial pictures show the true extent of 2021 Australian floods 

Incredible aerial and satellite photos have shown the widespread trail of destruction of the devastating floods along Australia’s east coast.

Large swathes of Sydney’s north-west remain cut off by floodwaters from the swollen Hawkesbury and Colo rivers, two days after the torrential rain that soaked the region eased.

There are also stunning scenes north of the border, where plane passengers flying over the Gold Coast have shared images of the blue ocean meeting murky floodwaters from the swollen Tweed River.

The massive clean up has began in Sydney’s north-west. 

While some evacuated residents were able to return homes on Thursday, many others aren’t so lucky.

Aerial photos taken of the flood zone on Thursday show rows of homes and abandoned floodwaters in Wisemans Ferry swamped by murky brown waters of floating debris, isolated from civilisation.

Wisemans Ferry, north-west of Sydney remains cut off from civilisation, where rows of homes are still swamped with floodwaters

Wisemans Ferry residents don’t know where they will be able to return to their homes, which are still inundated with  floodwaters 

Residents who fled before their homes were inundated are among the 20,000 residents across NSW who remain holed up in evacuation centres. 

There were similar scenes an hour’s drive down the road in Windsor, where satellite images before and after the floods also show a fascinating but contrasting tale.

A satellite photo taken on Tuesday shows the area inundated with murky waters, looking far less greener than the image taken three weeks earlier on March 3.

Floods have also taken a heavy toll on Queensland’s south-east.

A stunning photo showing floodwaters meeting the ocean was captured by a plane passenger flying over the New South Wales-Queensland border.

The photo taken over Flagstaff Beach on the Gold Coast on Wednesday showed a separation between blue ocean water and brown floodwater spilling from Tweed River.

This satellite image of Windsor in Sydney’s north-west was taken on March 3, three weeks before the floods

This satellite image taken Tuesday shows Windsor after floodwaters inundated the area

Passengers flying over the Gold Coast were greeted with scene oof blue ocean water meeting brown floodwater spilling from Tweed River

Sydney resident Sam Hennigan was flying over the region when he spotted the unique phenomenon.

‘It was pretty mesmerising,’ he told nine.com.au.

The swollen Tween River had peaked on Tuesday as parts of south-east Queensland received as much as 550mm of rain in the space of two days.

Major flooding also continues in Sydney’s western suburbs of North Richmond and Windsor, while fresh evacuation orders were issued for some areas in the centre of the state. 

‘The best advice I’ve received this morning is that most of the river systems we believe have peaked,’ NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday.

‘And now we are considering … which communities are able to return back in the next few days, and we just ask for everybody’s patience.’ 

 Around 40 per cent of Australia’s population of 25 million was affected by the severe weather system that stretched across an area the size of Alaska in recent days, touching every mainland state or territory but one.

At least 17,000 damages claims worth about A$254.2 million, according to the The Insurance Council of Australia. 

Flooding resulting from a severe weather event with prolonged rains is seen at the Hawkesbury River in Wisemans Ferry

Many residents from Sydney’s north-west are yet to return home. Pictured is flooded farmland in Colo