Three consecutive years of above-average rainfall are taking their toll on Western New South Wales, with some residents warned they could face isolation and inundation for several days in the face of a wet summer ahead.
Some parts of western NSW received almost a quarter of their annual rainfall in one night.
Falls of 100 millimetres or more drenched an area around Trundle and Tullamore, south-west of Dubbo.
The region has an annual average rainfall of about 450mm to 500 mm, according to Bureau of Meteorology data.
After two years of significant, and at times, record-breaking rainfall totals, a string of currently flooded rivers meant the latest downpour had nowhere to go.
At Julia Beveridge's farm between Tullamore and Narromine, two swollen creeks and overland flows saw the water come close to overtopping a three-metre high levee bank that protects her house.
She is away for surgery and could only contact her adult daughter, teenage son and sister as the flooding crept higher.
Ms Beveridge said her "kids were terrified", but it was also "terrifying not being there".
They rang the State Emergency Service for help and were airlifted to safety by the Rural Fire Service.
"Everything can be replaced. They [her family] can't," she said.
Ms Beveridge said if the water rose higher, which remained a possibility, her house and cars could go under, as well as the wool shed where her dogs were sheltering.
Her sheep are yet to be found.
"I don't even know where they are. I couldn't tell you," she said.
"The entire 1,750-acre property is underwater.
"I'm not looking forward to going home."
Flood turns streets into 'lake'
A little further south, teenagers, William and Nicholas Taylor made the most of flooding in their small town of Trundle by kayaking through streets that more closely resembled canals.
"It was pretty fun," 17-year-old William said, while his 15-year-old brother said he'd "definitely do it again if we could."
Locals nicknamed the flooding 'Lake Trundle' and put up drones to survey the scale of the water.
At Mungery, further north, the track looked more like a rice paddy, forcing the committee to cancel the annual picnic races.
The Parkes Shire Council warned all roads in and out of the Trundle area were inundated, in some places up to 40 centimetres deep.
The State Emergency Service expects to be able to get access to the township by this afternoon.
It has stationed aircraft in the district to assist with food, fodder and medicine drops over the coming days.
Cold front to bring more rain
There have been several flood rescues and calls for help as a result of the rapidly rising water.
SES Southern Zone incident controller Benjamin Pickup said it would be at least another three to four days before the water moved away.
"It is quite dangerous. It's very deep in places," Mr Pickup said.
He also warned people to remain vigilant as another cold front was expected to bring further rainfall next week.
It is expected to take its time to recede due to the topography, which the Parkes Shire Council Mayor Ken Keith described as being like "a dish".
It will move downstream towards the Lachlan River, hitting farmland further south.
Cr Keith said they recently received approval for natural disaster funding, which means farmers could access grants of up to $75,000.
"You feel sorry for the farming community at the moment as there's a lot of crops that haven't been sown or been killed by inundation or flooding," he said.
"What looked like was going to be another bumper year is certainly starting to go out the window."
