Thousands of residents in Australia's New South Wales state have been moved to evacuation centres as the northern region faced serious flooding.
Stephen Hart of the New South Wales State Emergency Services said it was "a little bit more than what we had in 2008, but not what we had back in June last year".
Twelve flood rescues have been carried out across the state and about 12,000 people remained isolated, local media reported.
In Moree, residents rushed to sandbag their homes and more than 1,000 were told to leave the eastern part of the town by last night. Residents are bracing for the worst floods in 36 years. The Mehi River at Moree was sitting at 10.3 metres early this morning.
"It hasn't been long ago since the sun took away the last lot (flood), and now we're back doing it again. So, let's hope this is the end of it for a while," resident Craig Brazel told Australian's Seven Network.
Both of the town's Mehi and Gwydir rivers are predicted to peak today, matching or exceeding the 10.6 metres levels reached in the February 1976 flood, local media reported.
The New South Wales state government have extended natural disaster declarations to the Moree, Narrabri, Gwydir, Tenterfield and Greater Taree local government areas.
Thirteen flood warnings remained in place for river systems across the state, with rain expected to spread to the Hunter region, the Illawarra and metropolitan Sydney, local media reported.
Meanwhile, flooding also extended to the neighbouring state of Queensland, with one flooded town and another eight on flood alert, local media reported.
"The public is also being reminded that floodwater is extremely dangerous as it can have fast moving undercurrents that can wash people and vehicles away," said Deputy state emergency operations controller, Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch.
"Everyone should always remember to never drive, ride or walk through floodwater.
"With rain continuing to fall, the community is urged not to take risks, to listen to the emergency services and to take care.
"The simple message is – if it is flooded, forget it."
APTN / 3 News