Four NSW SES trucks and an ACT SES vehicle were targeted as volunteers slept at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Pokolbin overnight on Thursday.

The ACT crew, which appeared to be the hardest hit, lost a chainsaw, power saw, pump, jerry cans and hand tools.

ACT taskforce commander Paul Cortese told The Newcastle Herald: "It is a pain in the neck, the guys felt gutted when they got to their vehicles this morning.

"Now we have a crew off the road, they are not able to do what they have come here to do, and we are a few thousand dollars down in equipment."

An ACT Emergency Services Agency spokeswoman said a fourth crew of 25 SES volunteers that left Canberra for NSW on Friday had replenished the stolen equipment.

"Everyone now has the tools they need to do the job they went there to do," she said.

"The extent of the loss won't be known for a few days as crews have been busy working."

A full inventory would likely be carried out when crews returned on Monday, the spokeswoman said, and the value of the stolen gear would not be known until then.

A car fridge was stolen from the Aberdeen crew, jerry cans and an oil can mixer were taken from Sutherland and two chainsaw chaps, helmets and jerry cans removed from two Bansktown vehicles.

All crews were called to help with the unprecedented amount of calls to the SES following the devastating storm which belted the Hunter region last week.

The ACT State Emergency Services crews were sent to relieve NSW crews who worked around the clock after more than 100,000 homes and businesses were battered by cyclonic winds and rain.

As well as the ACT crews, members from Queanbeyan SES were also deployed.

The crews were also on standby to head further north as another east coast low hits towns on the mid-north coast.

- with Dan Proudman, The Newcastle Herald.