Around 20 flood evacuation orders are still in place for communities in the state's Northern Rivers and mid North Coast regions.
Follow all of Thursday's updates on our live blog below.
Key events
Live updates
By Michael Doyle
Where to find emergency assistance and information
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For emergency assistance, contact SES in NSW or QLD on 132 500.
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If your life is at risk, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
- For the latest weather updates visit the Bureau of Meteorology in NSW here
- Roads and bridges may be impacted by flash flooding.
- If you're not sure what to do when there's a flood, here's the best way to plan
Listen to ABC Local Radio for regular updates:
- ABC North Coast on 94.5fm or online here
By David Hirst
Flood blog closing
Hi, sorry for the lack of updates this afternoon. We've been having technical problems. Luckily nothing too major has happened with the flooding.
I'm going to wrap things up for today. Thanks for joining me.
Remember
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For emergency assistance, contact SES in NSW or QLD on 132 500
-
If your life is at risk, call Triple 0 (000) immediately
- For the latest weather updates visit the Bureau of Meteorology in NSW here
By David Hirst
SES photos show Lismore flood aftermath
The NSW SES has posted a number of photos showing Lismore after the city's second devastating flood.
By David Hirst
Lismore local forced to sleep in tent
Jamie Haycock has been sleeping in a tent in his backyard after his Lismore rental home was severely damaged by flood a month ago.
Surveying the water levels this morning, the father of 13-year-old triplets said he was very "grateful and "relieved" that wasn't repeated.
"Last time it was two and a half metres through the house, so we were worried."
Reporting by Bronwyn Herbert
By David Hirst
Flood evacuation order issued for Iluka
By David Hirst
By David Hirst
By David Hirst
By David Hirst
By David Hirst
Exhausted Lismore residents face another heartbreaking clean-up
The Wilsons River at Lismore has peaked below predictions but remains above the town's flood levee, as a search for a 55-year-old woman believed to be missing in floodwaters continues.
Authorities feared the river would peak at 12 metres. Instead, it reached 11.4m about 5pm Wednesday after the town's 10.6m levee was breached for the second time in a month.
The river is at 10.7m with waters receding.
The effects of intense, heavy rainfall across Tuesday night and Wednesday continue to be felt across the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast.
By David Hirst
More than 100 calls for help to SES
Over the last 24 hours, the NSW State Emergency Services (SES) has responded to just over 100 requests for assistance and 11 rescues, Acting Commissioner Daniel Austin said.
He said power outages were impacting more than 6,000 homes across the Northern Rivers.
"We will work as quickly as we can to restore those," he said.
By David Hirst
Weather warning for Mid North Coast
Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore says the Mid North Coast should stay on high alert.
"The community of Grafton and communities and towns further south downstream of the Clarence River will need to be prepared for moderate and major flooding," he said.
Coffs Harbour could experience moderate flooding and Hastings could experience minor to moderate flooding.
And a severe weather warning is in place for Kempsey all the way south to the Victorian border, with strong winds and high tides expected.
By David Hirst
Twenty evacuation orders in place
More from Steph Cooke
"We have 20 evacuation orders still and 11 evacuation warnings in place currently, impacting around 30,000 people.
"I really want to thank each and every community impacted by the latest weather about for working so closely with the emergency services organisations, agencies, the ADF and of course our really hard-working volunteers who have been working around the clock for weeks now to keep our communities safe."
By David Hirst
Good news for Lismore, says Minister
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke says there's been good news for Lismore.
"Some pleasing developments overnight with the peaking of the Wilsons River at 11.4 metres, which was below what we were bracing for late yesterday afternoon," she said.
"That's good news for the community this morning.
"We are regrouping as we look at recovery efforts with water starting to recede.
"The weather system is making its way down the East Coast, and we will see other communities impacted as it moves south over the next couple of days."
By David Hirst
Another day of wet weather
Good morning. my name's David and I'm taking over blogging duties from Michael. Let's do this.
By Michael Doyle
Hundreds of calls to SES for help
The State Emergency Service said there had been 420 requests for help in the Northern Rivers and 248 on the Mid North Coast in the past 24 hours, including 19 flood rescues.
“In Bobs Creek, we had a rescue last night for three people who had driven a vehicle off a bridge and into flood water,” Jake Hoppe from the SES said.
“We also had a rescue in Sancrox for a male that had driven his vehicle into floodwater and was retrieved by Ambulance NSW some distance away from the vehicle.”
By Michael Doyle
Look back at this morning's press conference update
By Michael Doyle
SES to assess flood damage as soon as possible
The NSW SES will start assessing the flood damage in northern NSW so residents can return home as soon as possible.
Around 27,000 people across the Northern Rivers and mid North Coast regions are currently subject to evacuation orders.
Thousands more are on stand-by to leave as the weather system which triggered the flooding moves south.
SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan says there are still 20 flood evacuation orders in place across the region.
"We are trying to get people back into their communities as quickly as we can so we will continue to work with the communities in those areas that are under evacuation order and as soon as it's safe to do so we will lift those orders," she said.
