Lismore City Council has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money to rebuild the town, which it says has been devastated by a "once in a generation" flood.
Some 3,000 homes and businesses in Lismore town centre have been damaged by floodwaters, which reached near-record levels after the Wilsons River peaked at 11.6 metres on Friday - its highest since 1974.
Lismore Councillor Eddie Lloyd set up the page on April 4 and it has already raised more than $140,000 - a figure that is rapidly rising.
The council has set a goal of raising $500,000, but Lloyd says that figure will be just a drop in the ocean of the final bill to rebuild the town.
"The damage bill is going to be in the tens of millions of dollars, we know that much," Cr Lloyd told SBS News.
Lismore CBD is seen flooded after the Wilson River breached its banks early Friday, March 31, 2017. Source: AAP Image/Dave Hunt
"I've just done a big walk through the CBD and it's absolutely devastating. There are people weeping on the streets. There's talk of people not being able to reopen, and that's a reality with a lot of these businesses that don't have insurance, because the amount has just been too much for them to afford."
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Cr Lloyd said Lismore Council is setting up a committee of community leaders which will consult with the community and make sure the funds go where they are most needed.
"We don't know how much money we're going to be able to get from the federal and state governments, but we don't think we're going to get enough, so we're just trying to raise as much as we can, do as much as we can as a community," Cr Lloyd said.
"We've got an incredible community here... I'm really worried though that our community spirit is only going to take us so far.
"So that is why we're really pleading to people to dig into the hearts and their pockets and contribute to our flood appeal."
Among the donations so far is $20,000 from a local car dealer, and an anonymous contribution of $10,000.
Cr Lloyd said the response has been "incredibly humbling", and she is hopeful that Lismore will be able to rebuild, but she's not sure how it will all come together at this stage.
"There's always an opportunity for revival," she said. "But we really need help, because things are looking pretty bad at the moment and I just don't know what the future is."
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