Residents and emergency service crews across northern New South Wales are bracing for more severe weather and possible flooding in the coming days.
It comes after a wet few days which have already seen flash flooding and hundreds of calls for help.
The Bureau of Meterology (BOM) has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms for the Northern Rivers and parts of the Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands districts.
The weather is expected to develop over northern parts of north-east NSW on Monday afternoon, with the focus of the rainfall slowly shifting south overnight on Monday and Tuesday.
The bureau warns that "locally intense rainfall leading to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding" is possible.
Duty forecaster Stephen Stefanac said there could be isolated very-heavy rainfall.
A flood watch has also been issued for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Hunter and North Western NSW rivers.
Catchments in this region remain saturated after significant flooding in recent weeks and more rainfall has the potential to result in further minor to moderate flooding.
Residents urged to be vigilant
The NSW SES Northern Zone's Scott Mclennan said they had boosted their numbers in the region and were ready to position crews where they were most needed.
He said they understood residents, particularly those still recovering from catastrophic flooding on the North Coast, were worn out, but they needed to remain vigilant.
"We need you to heed the warning, get prepared, don't drive through floodwater … be wary that landslips are likely, be wary that the culverts may be flooded.
"If we tell you to evacuate, evacuate. Everything is wet and it is going to be a very wet week ahead."
Acting Premier Paul Toole has also urged residents to monitor warnings and respond quickly if needed.
"Over the next few days we are going to continue to see heavy rainfall on the eastern coastline here in NSW and that is especially going to impact on those communities on the Mid North Coast all the way through to the Queensland boarder," he said.
"Whilst it is going to be tough over the next few days … we will stand side by side with you once this weather event has gone through."
Closely monitoring the situation
Mr Mclellan said crews had been brought in from other areas to assist and they were also being supported with aviation assets.
"A lot of our members were impacted from the last flood event, and we are still dealing with the last event … but there's more rain coming," he said.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely; we are working with all our local governments."
The NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Damien Johnston said community action teams and incident management teams were also being set up.
"Incident management teams are being established in Grafton and in Metford in the Maitland area to manage this preparedness and response across the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast areas," he said.
"We have positioned aviation assets with two air bases currently in place at Ballina and Coffs Harbour and another being set up at Taree.
Barry Armstrong, a Port Macquarie-based licensed builder who has travelled to Lismore to assist flood victims with building advice and structural reports, said they were bracing for the coming wet weather.
"Some people are living in one bedroom with no internal wall linings, with just one power-point operating, that sort of thing."
Consider making other arrangements: police
Superintendent Scott Tanner with the Richmond Police District said people currently staying in flood-damaged accommodation or homes might need to make other arrangements.
"That could be with family or friends ... if you have any items you have taken back into your business or your home that may be susceptible to any sort of flood level … [you might need] to make arrangements to move them to higher ground."
Minister for Emergency Services Steph Cook said some services and temporary housing in flood-affected areas might also need to be relocated in coming days.
"We may need to move community centres to higher ground, we may need to move our motor homes that have already been positioned and have people in them through that recovery process, we may need to move them to higher ground as well," she said.
Calls for help as rain persists
Parts of NSW have already had a wet few days.
On Friday night, the Mid North Coast town of Wauchope, just west of Port Macquarie, was hit by flash flooding.
Streets in the CBD were swamped by about 1 metre of water just before 7pm, stranding cars and inundating shops.
Mr Mclennan said over the past 24 hours they had received 160 requests for assistance, including one rescue at Wauchope.
On the North Coast, on Saturday night there was 201mms of rainfall at Alstonville, 160mm at Smoky Cape and more than 100mm at Brunswick.
On Thursday night a 72-year-old man died in floodwaters near Grafton.
Further south, heavy rain and storms have also hit the Illawarra, with just over 70mm of rain falling in a short time in some areas.
There has been a major landslip at Macquarie Pass, with the road closed in both directions since Saturday morning. Transport for NSW is advising motorists to avoid the area.
There were also minor landslips reported at Stanwell Park in the region's north.
The SES said there were 65 requests for assistance on Saturday in the Wollongong area.
