A severe weather warning of heavy rain for the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast has been cancelled, giving the battered area a chance to recover as flood waters recede.
The Bureau of Meteorology says waters are now below the levee height of 10.6 metres.
But it warned there is still a risk of severe thunderstorms along the northern Hunter and lower Mid North Coast on Thursday.
Wind gusts reaching 100km/h and high seas will develop along the NSW coast on Thursday and Friday.
A low over the Tasman Sea is deepening and moving south. This in turn will see rain increasing over the southeast of the state from Friday, with localised road flooding possible.
While the rains might have eased in northern NSW, the political squabbling over the emergency response and flood recovery continues.
Frustration has grown in the regional city of Lismore after an initial evacuation order, issued Tuesday afternoon, was cancelled then reinstated about 3am on Wednesday.
NSW SES Acting Commissioner Daniel Austin on Thursday defended the actions of the SES, saying the right decisions were made at the time.
Mr Austin said the initial evacuation order was for flooding of the Wilsons River at Lismore and the likely overspill of the flood levee, which did not eventuate.
It took until Wednesday for an exceptional level of new rainfall, not previously predicted, for the levee to overflow.
"We do not have the joy of hindsight," Mr Austin said.
The NSW opposition has called for an upper house inquiry into the ongoing flood disaster.
"We want to have an upper house inquiry that reports quickly not to assign blame, not to make ... scapegoats," Labor leader Chris Minns said on Thursday.
"I don't know whether that was as a result of faulty gauges, or incorrect information that was handed to the SES, but we can't have this situation repeated.
"We need to have a clear line of authority in relation to who issues these evacuation warnings."
Flood levels have receded after the Wilsons River peaked at 11.4 metres, below the predicted record height of 12.
"That's good news for the community this morning," Flood Recovery Minister Steph Cooke said on Thursday.
"However we are regrouping as we look at recovery efforts as the water starts 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."
Some 30,000 people in NSW were affected by 20 evacuation orders earlier on Thursday, with 523 people housed at 20 evacuation centres.
The orders for Mullumbimby, Kyogle, Nambucca Heads and Tumbulgum were revoked on Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile the search continues for missing aged care nurse Anita Brakel, whose car became trapped in floodwaters in Monaltrie, south of Lismore.
No trace of Ms Brakel or her car has been found since she disappeared on Tuesday about 10pm.
A day after Byron Bay was also hit with unexpected flash flooding, frustrated business are anxious to reopen their doors.
"This summer, it's just been raining constantly, like constantly," Main Street Burger Bar co-owner Jack Tupper told AAP.
"And when it does rain, it's so intense. It's frustrating because we own the business. It's hard, all the days that we are shut. We're still paying rent."
Major flooding on the Wilsons, Richmond, Clarence, and Orara rivers is still occurring.
