NSW is facing "challenges on multiple fronts" as severe weather brings floods and heavy downpours to inland areas and again threatens the Northern Rivers region.
Emergency Services and Resilience Minister Steph Cook says a "very long season" of wet weather is expected, with flood warnings in place across the state.
"We are at the start of what we think will be a long spring and summer, in relation to these types of events rolling through," she said.
"And it's important against that backdrop for people not to become complacent, even if you've experienced flooding before ... every flood is different and every weather system is different."
Flood rescue
NSW Police have released footage of a flood rescue near Dungog in the Hunter region, where an officer waded into hip-high waters to save two women and a young boy.
A car they were travelling in on Lyons Road became trapped at a flooded causeway, and the senior constable used a safety line to perform the rescue.
The women, aged 44 and 51, and four-year-old boy were treated for shock but were uninjured.
There was also a lucky escape for a driver when a car ran off the road into a swollen creek on the Coffs Coast.
The driver managed to escape the vehicle on their own.
NSW State Emergency Service (SES) Commissioner Carlene York, said there had been extensive flooding in the far west of the state in recent days.
There have been 49 people rescued and the SES has received more than 500 calls for assistance, Ms York said.
Now that weather is moving north to areas which have been inundated with rain and catastrophic events this year, including flood-ravaged Lismore.
Ms York said the SES had already stationed more boats and resources in the Northern Rivers, and had set up a command centre in Goonellabah.
'Moderate flooding possible'
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a moderate flood warning for the Wilsons River at Lismore for Friday, and a minor flood warning for the Macleay River.
"Heavy rainfall is expected to develop upstream of Lismore during Thursday afternoon and into the evening," a BOM statement warned.
"Depending on the location and intensity of the heaviest rainfall, further rises and above moderate flooding is possible from Friday and into the weekend."
Jane Golding, from the BOM, said some locations on the north coast had been hit with more than 170ml of rain over the past 36 hours.
"That rain is going to exacerbate flooding on the north coast," she said.
"We know that when the rain stops, the rivers keep rising ... that's just the nature of riverine flooding."
There are also flood warnings for the Castlereagh and Murray rivers in the central west, where some towns are already dealing with rising waters.
Towns including Trundle have been cut off from main roads, and the major regional centre of Dubbo is bracing for minor flooding.
Various levels of flood warnings have been issued from the Queensland border down to the Wollombi Brook on the Central Coast.
Ms Cook said there had been "prolonged flooding" through the west and north-west of the state, and now the "flood weary" communities in the Northern Rivers faced an uncertain couple of days.
"We're facing challenges on multiple fronts," Ms Cook said.
"This is the third consecutive La Nina ... and as we've seen all year our catchments, our landscapes are highly saturated
"And this increases the risk of flash flooding and water coming up very, very quickly and catching people unawares."
Ms Cook said she "understood the anxiety" being felt by people in the Northern Rivers and north coast, where towns have experienced two major floods in 2022.
Ms York said it was possible some evacuation orders may be given in low-lying parts of Lismore, and nearby locations, based on current flooding forecasts.
"We have pre-deployed personnel, high clearance vehicles and aviation assets to the Port Macquarie and Lismore areas and are local units are on the ground ready to help their communities," she said.
