Police will prepare a report for the coroner after the death of a 39-year-old Albion Park man who was assisting with storm damage on Wednesday. 

The State Emergency Service volunteer was with a crew removing a fallen tree in Flinders when he collapsed around 3.35pm, said Lake Illawarra Acting Inspector Peter Northey.

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Inspector Northey said CPR was administered and the man was taken to Shellharbour Hospital, but could not be revived.

He said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

“NSW SES Commissioner Mark Smethurst and the NSW SES family send our heartfelt condolences to the family and fellow unit members,” read a statement from SES headquarters.

Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant expressed his deepest sympathies to the volunteer’s family and friends.

“My thoughts and prayers are also with the broader emergency services community, especially the SES crew who performed first aid on the man,” Mr Grant said.

The rain and storms lashed the Illawarra and surrounding regions across the day – cutting power to homes, causing public transport delays and closing roads.

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The Illawarra Highway at Macquarie Pass was closed for most of Wednesday with flash flooding – the area had recorded 122 millimeters of rain in the 24 hours to 9am.

At a media conference held at the SES headquarters in Wollongong, SES Commissioner Mark Smethurst said it had been the wettest November day for the state since 1984, and the wettest day since 2015 on their records.

As of 9pm a total of 120 calls for help were made to the SES by residents in the region, and another 48 in the Shoalhaven.

Spokesman Phil Campbell said the majority were for leaky roofs, with assistance for fallen trees and branches in second.

Despite the deluge causing havoc and concern, NSW Ambulance Illawarra Shoalhaven Zone Inspector Matt Stirling praised motorists for exercising safety in the rain.

“We’d expect an influx of motor-vehicle related incidents given the rain, but we haven't identified any significant trends which means the public is obviously driving to conditions which is good,” Inspector Stirling said.

Earlier in the day, the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian visited the SES headquarters in Wollongong and commended all the volunteers for their hard work.

The Bureau expects the wet weather to ease on Thursday, with mostly sunny days forecast from Friday and across the weekend.