Police are repeating pleas for drivers to avoid flooded NSW roads after the body of a man was found in his submerged car in the state's central west.
The death of the 46-year-old comes as much of NSW braces for further inundation, with more than 100 flood warnings in place.
The man was last seen at Essington, south of Bathurst, around 11am on Sunday, with a search launched when he failed to return home on Monday.
About 10.30am on Tuesday a police helicopter crew found his car fully submerged in Campbells River at Charlton, and State Emergency Service crews recovered the vehicle with his body inside.
"Motorists are reminded not to drive into any roadways covered by water due to the dangers of becoming trapped - if it's flooded, forget it," police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Parts of already sodden NSW are predicted to cop as much as another 65mm of rain by week's end.
The Bureau of Meteorology says a trough approaching from the west is expected to bring thunderstorms to the central and southern inland on Thursday and Friday as it crosses the state.
Damaging winds above 90 km/h for Alpine areas from Thursday afternoon are also forecast.
At Forbes in the central west, people are filling their petrol tanks and buying groceries as they prepare for the deluge.
The Lachlan River at the Iron Bridge, near a residential area in the town's south east, is expected to exceed the major flood level of 10.55m on Thursday.
State Emergency Service volunteers have been filling sandbags at their headquarters on the outskirts of town and handing out thousands to residents preparing to protect their homes.
Local commander Rocky Walshaw said it is hard to predict how bad the flooding will be with creeks already swollen.
"Every flood is different, but this one is going to be here for a long time" Mr Walshaw told AAP.
"This peak is going to stay here for five days, but when the rain falls again, it's about where that's going to fall."
Some residents, particularly farmers, are preparing to be isolated for as long as a week after the river peak.
Many growers in the region say parts of their properties have been underwater for months due to heavy rain.
Mr Walshaw urged locals to keep up to date with the weather, water levels and road closures.
"What happened here in the last floods was the people who didn't talk to their neighbours were getting worried and panicking," he said.
"We've got a saying here: 'I'd rather be looking at them, than looking for them'."
He said previous floods in Forbes were worse because the river was not highly regulated.
Authorities have decreased Wyangala Dam water releases from 45,000 megalitres per day to 30,000 megalitres on Wednesday.
Senior forecaster Jonathan How said from late Thursday into Friday, heavy rain would push into Victoria's northeast and across the western slopes of NSW.
This may cause renewed flooding along rivers in parts of the central west and southwest from Friday, many of which are already full due to heavy rain in recent months.
SES volunteers have responded to more than 1000 calls for help since Friday evening.
Numerous rivers are at major flood levels, particularly in the north and west of the state.
Last month was the fifth highest rainfall on record for Australia as a whole, and above average for most of the country, according to the BoM.
