Nearly 70 flood warnings are in place across NSW as the focus turns to the far south Riverina region, with more rain expected to lash large areas this week.
Some 300 people have been evacuated from Moama, a town near the Victorian border, where residents are staring down the possibility by Friday of a flood higher than the 1993 event, the area’s second worst on record.
Premier Dominic Perrottet repeated his warning that many communities were in for a tough week, as the Bureau of Meteorology predicted another week of rain beginning Wednesday.
“Our dams are full. Our rivers are full,” he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a difficult time but we’ve got through difficult times in the past.”
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke says the wet conditions are testing the resolve of flood-weary communities.
“This is what living through a third consecutive La Nina event looks like,” she said.
“Our grounds are saturated and we are continuing to see rain and more rain”.
In Moama, the State Emergency Services has dispatched more than 125,000 sandbags and two evacuation centres have been set up to accommodate up to 550 people.
Nine aircraft are on standby to deployed throughout the state, along with five high-clearance vehicles, while up to 180 Australian Defence Personnel are available to lend a hand in western NSW.
SES Assistant Commissioner Sean Kearns says the next 48 hours are crucial for communities around Moama, where up to 3000 people are on flood watch.
Six flood rescues have taken place in the last 24 hours along with 50 requests for help, he said.
“The situation is not over and it’s … going to continue for several weeks to come,” Mr Kearns told reporters.
“It might be blue sky but it doesn’t mean it’s not flooding and the rivers won’t rise.”
In the small town of Mathoura in the Riverina, residents east of the Cobb Highway have been told to evacuate by 10am on Tuesday before routes out are expected to be cut off.
People living at a Moama caravan park and in the nearby Indigenous community Cummeragunja were told to evacuate on Monday.
Major flooding continues from the Macquarie River at Warren in the central west, with waters expected to remain high until at least mid-week.
The Murrumbidgee River could reach major flooding at Narrandera on Tuesday, where residents were told to evacuate over the weekend.
The water will then flow downstream to Hay, which could experience major flooding by the end of the week.
People in Forbes who were forced to evacuate after the Lachlan River burst its banks last week have been told they can return with caution.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Mr Perrottet visited the region on Monday.
Mr Albanese warned flood threats were likely to continue for some time.
“We are living in very dangerous times in the days and weeks ahead,” he said.
Mr Perrottet called for vigilance in flood-threatened communities through summer and urged people to follow the advice of emergency services agencies.
Meteorologist Jane Golding says an intense low pressure will bring moisture from the tropics through northwest NSW to its east from Wednesday to Friday, bringing more intense rain.
Thunderstorms expected to develop from Tuesday could add further heavy rain to already saturated catchments, with rivers likely to rise quickly.
“There’s a danger of flash-flooding from intense bursts from severe thunderstorms … as well bringing with them the potential for some destructive wind gusts,” she said.
© AAP 2022
