NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has admitted aspects of the emergency flood response were "unacceptable" and people should not have had to rely on civilian rescuers to survive.
Mr Perrottet promised a complete review of emergency resourcing and said he would not deny the needs of the State Emergency Service (SES).
"There is no doubt that there should have been better coordination on the ground," he said at a press conference.
"I don’t want to see any of those things happen again.
"We’ve got to learn from this."
The Premier was pressed on the fact that people were forced to wait on their roofs for days before rescue teams reached them and many still have no essential supplies.
He said he was bound to follow the emergency services' advice that it was not safe to have helicopters in the air earlier this week.
He said he "thoroughly tested" the advice he received.
"We just couldn't get anything in the air ... it took longer than anyone would have liked to get supplies into the evacuation centre."
A federal government MP from the Northern Rivers took aim at the reliability of advice from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) ahead of the extreme weather event.
Member for Page Kevin Hogan said there were speed and accuracy issues with the BOM's early flood forecast.
"Their model was obviously very wrong," Mr Hogan said.
"We all knew the weather event was there, we all knew we had a very wet catchment, but whatever model they used, the rainfall was much heavier than what they were forecasting, even very late Sunday night."
He said this left government agencies underprepared for the scale of the flood event.
Mr Perrottet said his government would be thoroughly reflecting on what went wrong, including the amount of time people had to evacuate.
In Lismore, the order to evacuate was given at 2am and many woke up to high flood levels in their homes.
The clean-up continues in flood-ravaged areas, with the SES stepping up assessments so people can return home.
A multi-agency team organised by the NSW government which includes 400 personnel, helicopters and equipment has now been mobilised, and Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke has been appointed as Minister for Flood Recovery.
Mr Perrottet said he was committed to cutting bureaucratic red tape so people have money in their hands and a roof over their head again as soon as possible.
"I don’t want to see anyone in an evacuation centre a day longer than they need to be. I want to see people in homes."
But he said the scale of the recovery was so mammoth that mistakes would be inevitable.
"Not everything is going to be perfect."
This afternoon the NSW Treasurer announced flood support grants of up to $1 million for businesses who have lost everything in the crisis.
The available grants offer $75,000 for primary producers, up to $50,000 for small businesses and not-for-profits and up to $1 million in grants for local councils.
The financial support is a joint NSW and Commonwealth commitment and will be available in about a week, Treasurer Matt Kean told the ABC.
"We are moving very quickly because we know what a difference this help can make," he said.
More immediate relief is also available for those who have lost everything by contacting Service NSW.
Earlier this week the Federal Government announced recovery payments of $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child for those in 26 affected local government areas in NSW and Queensland.
This money is available via myGov or by contacting Services Australia.
Storms forecast for weekend
The east coast low off the NSW coast has significantly weakened, however another weather system may bring severe thunderstorms to flood-ravaged NSW on Sunday and Monday.
A vast swathe of the state could be affected, from the Mid-North Coast down to the Victorian border.
The forecast rain is likely to mean more flooding in the Hunter and the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Dean Narramore said the rain would not be "good news" for areas that are already saturated.
"While showers and rainfall has eased today and tomorrow, we still have numerous moderate and major flood warnings current and then we have the next weather system moving in to bring another round of rain and thunderstorms, particularly Sunday and Monday," Mr Narramore said.
"So that means we could have prolonged moderate and major flood levels on our rivers particularly around the Hawkesbury and Nepean and through the Hunter where rivers will slowly fall and then maintain current heights and possibly renewed rises with that additional rain on Sunday and Monday."
Although most water is receding, there are still major flood warnings for the Clarence, Hawkesbury and Nepean, Richmond, Gloucester and Weir rivers.
An evacuation warning has also been issued for residents in low-lying parts of Gloucester, near the Barrington Tops in the hinterland of the lower Mid-North Coast.
Flood levels along the Manning River at Taree are expected to reach 2.4 metres by tonight and residents in Manning Point, Glenthorne and Croki were warned they were at risk of becoming cut-off as roads and bridges are flooded.
An evacuation order is also in place for parts of Lower Portland and Cumberland Reach along the Hawkesbury River, with residents in affected areas told to leave immediately.
NSW State Emergency Service (SES) Commissioner Carlene York also warned the South Coast could expect to see flooding over the weekend.
"So I call on the community to be aware of the flood risk, keep up to date with warnings or information we put out and if need be, think about sandbagging and seeking assistance to protect their property," she said.
