Authorities are urging residents of Forbes in central-west NSW to heed flood warnings and leave their homes, while a community in the state's north will be evacuated by boat before its sewerage system fails, as the state's flood crisis continues.
Army personnel are being sent to Forbes ahead of a forecast record peak of 10.8 metres on Saturday.
State Emergency Service (SES) Deputy State Commander State Dallas Burnes says 1,000 people are affected by emergency warnings in the Forbes area and 500 homes are being door knocked.
"We are asking people not to take any risks, to listen to emergency services' advice, and to stay away from floodwater," he said.
In the state's north, the already isolated Walli Village at Collarenebri is now being urged to evacuate by 4:00pm Saturday, with the failure of the sewerage system imminent.
The SES will evacuate residents across the flooded Barwon River by boat.
In the state's south, the Murrumbidgee River at Wagga Wagga peaked at 9.72m around midday with major flooding, its highest peak in 10 years.
Over the past 24 hours the SES has responded to over 254 requests for assistance and six flood rescues.
Flooding splits Forbes in two
Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller said the town's CBD was flooded and the town was divided in two.
"One side you can buy food, one side you can't," Ms Miller said.
"We are making sure essential workers are being shuttled across town."
Water is already flowing into some suburban areas, including around the town's pool, and Ms Miller expected homes would be inundated when the flood peaked and people would be further isolated.
"Some farms have been isolated for three months and receiving food drops, I have concerns for their wellbeing particularly in the Bedgerabong and and Jemalong communities," she said.
Resident Rob Drinkwater, who has lived in Forbes for 78 years, said the community had pulled together like never before.
"What it gives to me to see those young people out there working, well what a great town we are going to have a bit later on, if they're keen to go and help each other like that," he said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel being sent in would have a Black Hawk helicopter on standby to help carry out night rescues if required.
"ADF members are a source of inspiration for people on the ground and they are also providing significant assistance," he said while speaking in Forbes today.
In Wagga Wagga SES Southern Zone deputy commander Barry Griffith said volunteers were suffering burnout as they had been dealing with flooding for 18 months.
"They are getting tired, we're starting to get stretched and it's showing on the ground," he said.
Mr Griffiths said volunteers and staff from Western Australia were being called in to help with flooding across NSW.
Murrumbidgee peaks at Wagga Wagga
Thousands of people in Wagga Wagga, North Wagga and Gumly Gumly were also ordered to evacuate overnight, and major flooding on Friday hit the region for the first time since 2012.
The Murrumbidgee River has peaked at 9.72 metres at Wagga Wagga, cutting off areas including North Wagga and Gumly Gumly, and approaching people's homes.
The Sturt Highway is closed at points to the east and west.
The SES has deployed more resources to monitor Murrumbidgee River flooding at Wagga Wagga.
"We've got helicopters up and we've got more drones from surf lifesaving coming in to do more area surveillance on what areas might be impacted by floodwater," SES incident controller Barry Griffiths said.
Mr Griffiths said the floodwater was not expected to over-run the 9.9 metre levee protecting north Wagga Wagga, but the SES was monitoring the impact in other low-lying areas.
There are 23 evacuation warnings and 60 Watch and Act alerts across the state.
An additional 11 local government areas (LGAs) have been made eligible for disaster assistance, including the Bega Valley, Junee, Muswellbrook, Nambucca Valley, Shoalhaven, Snowy Monaro, Snowy Valleys, Temora, Walcha, Yass Valley and the Unincorporated Area of New South Wales.
Rural Assistance Grants of $25,000 would also be available for agriculture producers in flood-affected LGAs.
Search continues for missing Sydney man
Police are continuing to search for a man who was swept off a causeway by floodwater in Bevendale on Monday.
Emergency services found the body of a second man on Thursday but are yet to formally identify his body.
They were part of a group of four caught in a utility in floodwater.
Two men in the car managed to swim to safety while the other two, from Sydney, were swept off the back of the vehicle.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
Thousands without gas for weeks
A Regional Emergency Operations Centre has been activated in Dubbo following flooding and an ongoing gas outage.
More than 20,000 people are expected to be without gas for weeks in the Central Tablelands after a leak thought to be caused by floodwater impacted services late Wednesday.
Supply to Bathurst, Wallerawang, Lithgow and Oberon was impacted, though the company responsible, the APA Group, has managed to reinstate services at Bathurst.
The cause of the leak has not been confirmed, but the company said flooding was believed to be a factor.
