SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian authorities started clean-up efforts on Saturday after floods claimed five lives and inundated more than 10,000 properties in the country's southeast. The New South Wales emergency services agency said damage assessments were under way in the state for the mid-north coast region after the floods that cut off towns, swept away livestock and destroyed homes this week. "Early estimates indicate at least 10,000 properties may have been damaged following record flooding," the agency said in a statement.