A man's body has been found in a submerged car and six people had to be rescued from floodwaters as rivers continue to swell in inland New South Wales.
Key points:
- Police expect the body to be identified soon
- Authorities are urging people not to drive on flooded roads
- Flooding continues in many areas but the SES says most residents have been able to adequately prepare
A multi-agency search was launched for a 46-year-old Essington man on Monday after he had failed to return home.
He was last seen on Sewells Creek Road at Essington, south of Bathurst, believed to be driving to work on Sunday morning.
An initial search of the area and nearby Campbells River failed to locate any trace of the man.
Inspector Glenn Cogdell said emergency services returned on Tuesday and located a submerged ute.
"With the assistance of PolAir, [police] have identified a submerged vehicle in the Campbells River.
"Unfortunately a 46-year-old male was located deceased in that vehicle."
The body is yet to be formally identified.
Meanwhile, two women and four children under the age of seven had to be rescued after driving across a flooded road 10 kilometres south-east of Forbes on Wednesday afternoon.
Fire and Rescue NSW said the vehicle stalled around 3pm after water got into the Ford Territory's air intake.
Firefighters were joined by State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, NSW Police and surf life savers to ferry the family back to safety in raft.
Emergency services are urging motorists not to cross inundated roads, even if they are familiar with them.
Rivers nearing peak
The SES has warned residents in parts of south Forbes to be prepared to evacuate, with major flooding possible tomorrow.
The weather bureau says the Lachlan River could reach the major flood level in Forbes late on Thursday.
Lachlan Gilchrist from the SES said residents in parts of east Forbes should also prepare to isolate for up to five days.
"Certainly into this evening and late into Thursday and then again on Friday, so there's really a few days in it," he said.
"So we're just asking the community to make sure they're staying ahead of that and just following that advice to make sure they're prepared."
Major flooding is still expected downstream of Forbes at Jemalong in the coming days.
Floodwaters are also continuing to rise in the Riverina city of Wagga Wagga, where multiple evacuation orders for low-lying areas were issued on Tuesday night.
The river was at 9.1 metres on Wednesday afternoon, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting it could reach a peak of 9.3m later that night.
But the SES is hopeful it may not reach that level.
Parts of Moorong, Edward St West and Wilks Park, all in the city’s low-lying north and west, were told to evacuate on Tuesday evening.
The SES said all residents in those areas had been contacted and many were staying put.
Bracing for more
Already saturated and flooded catchments will not get a reprieve as a rain system moves into NSW.
"Rain will be building through today, then into tomorrow — that will really be the peak day," the BOM's Jonathan How said.
The system will hit Victoria and southern NSW starting today.
Areas including Deniliquin are bracing for up to 50-60 millimetres, but communities further north may not be as severely impacted.
"Thankfully for those flood-affected communities, including Bathurst, Gundagai and Forbes, we're looking at rainfall totals of between 10-25mm, which may cause local creek rises, but thankfully the heaviest rain will be further south," Mr How said.
"For those along the South Coast of NSW and then Sydney, we'll see those showers pushing through from Friday morning and into the afternoon, but fairly quick moving.
"It should clear off into Friday night."