A body has been found by police involved in the search for two men reported missing in floodwaters on the Southern Tablelands.
The two men have been missing since Monday after their vehicle was swept off a causeway by floodwater at Bevendale.
A man's body was found about 2pm on Tnursday and while it is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of one of the missing men.
A search is continuing for the second man.
Two other men who were travelling in the same vehicle managed to swim to safety.
More than 1,000 told to evacuate near Forbes
Hundreds of people have been told to leave their homes across inland NSW, with many rivers in major flood moving either faster or slower than first thought.
The Lachlan River at Forbes has hit the major flood level of 10.5 metres and is expected to reach a record flood peak of 10.8m early on Friday morning.
More than 1,000 people in the Forbes Shire have been told to evacuate.
Business owner Peter Maher said he had been preparing for the expected flood since Tuesday and was concerned about the impact it could have on the town and businesses.
"There's a bit of uncertainty, a lot of people have lost crops and people can't get to their sheep to shear," he said.
"There will be a lot washed away and [it will] damage a lot of shops and leave a muddy, dirty, grim sort of picture," Mr Maher said.
SES southern region zone commander Ben Pickup said he expected major flooding to continue downstream for several weeks, and Forbes was expected to stay above major flood levels for at least a week.
"There is currently major flooding at Nanami, peaking at 13.5 metres this afternoon which is significant for that community," Mr Pickup said.
"[We] will continue to see flooding for weeks as water moves downstream and I would like to remind the community that blue sky flooding is just as dangerous as when rain is falling and we have flash flooding," he said.
Upstream, the Wyangala Dam is at more than 105 per cent capacity after inflows peaked at 202,000 megalitres a day.
Spills reached 125,000ML before being scaled back to 80,000ML overnight.
Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller said she was "very concerned" given the likelihood of homes and businesses being inundated, which had "everyone on tenterhooks".
She said it had been a gruelling time for the Forbes district.
"It is exhausting but nothing is as exhausted as my farming community," she said.
"My heart bleeds for those people out in Jemalong and Bedgerabong, they have been flooded for nearly five months, so it's horrendous for them."
Forbes resident Leo Pietsch, 92, was 22 when the river last reached 10.8m in 1952.
He said about 60 centimetres of water went through his home and it "took a long time to clean up the town because there was so much water".
Mr Pietsch said the community was concerned about what could happen this time around.
"We are really because no one seems real certain about it."
An evacuation centre has been established at Forbes High School and will be open from 8am on Friday.
Evacuation orders brought forward
Evacuate now orders remain for those in North Wagga outside the levee, while evacuation orders for residents inside the levee and at Gumly Gumly have been brought forward to 6pm on Thursday.
Rises of up to to 9.8 metres are possible, which would bring the river to 10 centimetres below the levee.
Mr Pickup urged people to heed the orders as places such as North Wagga could stay flooded for days.
"At 9.8m we will not see the North Wagga levee around the township itself overtop, but we don't want people in that community once we lose access to it, so please encourage early evacuation," he said.
Norma and Bob McFarland have been married 62 years and living in Wagga for more than 60 of those.
Mrs McFarland said about 45 centimetres of water came through their home when the river reached 10.74m in 1974, so they are bracing for the worst tomorrow.
"We've put everything up on trestles and moved things to higher ground and that's about it," she said.
"We didn't hear anything about the evacuation order but my daughter rang and said you better start packing."
Mr McFarland said he was hoping for the best.
"People always ask us why we stay here and I always tell them, 'well you can wash out after a flood, but you have nothing left after a fire'," Mr McFarland said.
The Olympic Highway is the only remaining access from north of Wagga Wagga, which is causing major congestion and significant queues of more than 10 kilometres.
The traffic conditions are being made worse due to several nearby closures on the Sturt and Newell highways, and other regional roads, spanning hundreds of kilometres.
Residents isolated
Evacuation orders from more than two weeks ago remain for parts of Moama and Cummeragunja on the Murray River in the state's south.
Further north, Alice Edwards Village at Bourke is being evacuated with potential for the area to be isolated from essential services and supplies for up to 10 days.
The Castlereagh Highway is expected to be inundated with communities including Walgett, Brewarrina Collarenabri and Lightning Ridge preparing to be isolated.
Coonamble is expecting major flooding which would impact the highway to Gulargambone and some residents could be cut off for three to five days.
Parts of North Gunnedah in the state's north west have also been evacuated.
Landholders in Louth and Tilpa remain isolated.
The NSW SES has responded to 345 requests for assistance, with 14 flood rescues throughout southern and western parts of the state between Wednesday and Thursday.
