The NSW State Emergency Service and partner agencies received more than 6,600 requests for assistance in about 10 days and carried out more than 60 flood rescues.

NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said today there had been 150 requests for assistance in the last 24-hour period and six flood rescues.

Most of the inquiries came from people at Forbes, Gunnedah and Coffs Harbor. Skilled SES members have helped save animals, including cows and horses.

“We had a rescue in a flood where the police helped us, or led the rescue, and had two boys who had gone into the flood waters,” she said.

NSW Police Sgt. Joel Hunter was congratulated on a Bravery Award for this rescue on Saturday afternoon, when he swam to rescue two 11-year-old boys who had jumped into the Lachlan River near Condobolin.

Bad weather has hit the state over the past fifteen weeks, causing major flooding on the Lachlan River in west-central New South Wales and prompting evacuation orders for hundreds of properties in the town of Forbes, and an instant order for some Denman residents in Upper Hunter. .

The SES this afternoon released an “everything is clear” for Forbes, which means that it is safe for residents to return to the properties on listed four streets and that no area of ​​the city is subject. an evacuation order.

Jane Golding, the Bureau of Meteorology’s hazard preparedness manager for the eastern region, said a major flood warning was also underway for the Namoi River in the state’s north. The river almost reached its highest point in Gunnedah, causing extensive flooding.

“What we expect over the next few days is for a low pressure system to really deepen inland New South Wales and progress towards the eastern part of New South Wales.” , she said.

“The areas affected today and tomorrow are really the inland areas towards the western slopes and ranges of NSW, but as we move forward on Thursday and Friday it will progress towards the coast.”

Ms Golding also warned of falling trees as a southerly wind drags the gradual low, reaching the coast on Friday and bringing a change in gusts and high seas.

A severe thunderstorm warning indicating damaging winds and heavy rain was issued this afternoon for residents of parts of the West Central Slopes and Plains, Riverina and Lower Western Forecast Districts.

Bureau meteorologist Jackson Browne said another round of widespread rainfall is forecast for eastern Australia, “as two tropical air masses appear to collide.”

“Accumulated precipitation shows that our cloud band is moving over the eastern two-thirds of Australia, Thursday being the peak precipitation day,” he said.

“Widespread falls of 25 to 100 millimeters, with higher amounts of thunderstorms, are likely.”