Heartwarming photos have emerged of a man rescuing five beloved horses from the severe flooding in his rural town triggered by the worst storm in a decade in New South Wales . Steve Spowart helped the horses ' owner , Sonia Sharrock , to lead the animals to safety near Dungog , in the NSW Hunter region - one of the hardest hit areas in the state - where three people died in the severe weather , four houses were washed away and the town received the most rainfall it had in 100 years . Mr Spowart , in a black wetsuit , paddled out on his surfboard to where the horses were stranded , past trees , bushes and fences submerged in the floodwater that was almost as high as his shoulders . Scroll down for video . Steve Spowart rescues five horses from flood water on April 22 near Dungog , a small town in the NSW Hunter Valley region . Mr Spowart paddled out to where the horses were stranded , with concentration etched on his face . His tough journey to save the animals was captured as he paddled past submerged trees and bushes . As he managed to get hold of a brown horse in what was once a field surrounded by a fence , the man clung to its mane to lead it to safety . The moving images show the concentration on his face as he moves towards the animals and his concern as he struggles to lead them out of the deep murky water . In one photo , a startled brown horse attempts to flee as the man is kicked backwards into the water . The man and owner Ms Sharrock , in a green jacket , then appear to try and calm the animal to coax it to come with them without any reins . A young boy with a tin motor boat waits in shallow water as they walk a chestnut and two white horses out of the flood . The brown horse reared up after becoming caught in barbed wire , splashing and throwing the man back into the storm water . The brown horse stood off against the two rescuers , Sonia Sharrock and Mr Spowart , in fear of the terrifying floods . The man was helped by two women as he led two white and one chestnut horse out of the deep water towards a young boy and a boat . On Wednesday morning , the NSW Premier called on flood victims to 'hang tough ' as the storm slowly moved down the south coast . 'Obviously , in the areas particularly impacted in the Hunter , Newcastle and across the Central Coast , we ask those communities to hang tough , ' Mr Baird said . He said 'areas such as Dungog and Maitland , parts of the Central Coast ' would be declared natural disaster zones but a state of emergency would not be announced . The community of Dungog in the Hunter region is said to be in 'shock ' after three residents who died in dangerous weather conditions on Tuesday were identified as Robyn McDonald , aged about 70 , Colin Webb , 79 , and Brian Wilson , 72 , the Newcastle Herald reported . The SES says it has had about 8000 requests for help and conducted 90 flood rescues since Monday , and about 200,000 homes and businesses remain without power . More than 260 SES crews and 600 volunteers will be out in the field on Wednesday . The barefooted man looked more relieved as he held on tightly to one horse 's rein after emerging from the water . Ms Sharrock , in a green coat , talks to a chestnut horse as it follows her to safety out of the storm water in Dungog . A small smile crosses her face as she gets on to shallow ground with her animals . The white horse stands tall amidst the stormy skies in Dungog , an area that has been hit especially hard by the storm . The man carried ropes and reins on his surfboard as he made his way to the horses . As Mr Spowart walked out of the water , there was an eerie calm while the rain continued to fall .
Steve Spowart rescued his friend 's horses stranded in deep storm water by paddling out to them on a surfboard . The animals were in flooded fields near Dungog , in the NSW Hunter region . One of the horses was caught in barbed wire and became startled as Mr riders tried to free it . Dungog is one of the areas hardest affected in the state by what 's being termed the storm of the century . fourteen horses have died in the severe weather and four houses were washed away .