Unrelenting rain has caused havoc across eastern NSW with at least 21 campers spending the night stranded at a campground on the south coast because of rising floodwaters.
The unprecedented wet weather has made it difficult for helicopter rescue crews to reach the group of 16 adults and five children who've been isolated at the Bendethera Valley campground west of Moruya since Sunday.
National Parks rangers are with the group which has adequate food and water for at least two days, SES spokeswoman Jacqueline Rose said.
Further north, at least 70 residents in Raymond Terrace will also spend the night away from home after they were ordered to evacuate with nearby Hunter River expected to peak.
The small town of Torryburn remains isolated by floodwaters which inundated a bridge, while 300 people have been isolated by minor flooding near Colo, northwest of Sydney.
Residents meanwhile returned to homes in Dungog after evacuation notices were issued on Tuesday night to about 10 streets in the Hunter region town.
However some residents, like Carl Solomon and Kellie Dahl, were taking this latest flooding, so soon after the floods in April, in their stride.
“We might be on the river, we might get these downfalls, but it’s Mother Nature,” Mr Solomon told SBS News.
“We’ve been through it before and we know what to expect and these emergency service guys are doing an unreal job.”
“When the beds start floating that’s when we’ll think it might be time to go,” Ms Dahl said.
Resident Narell Snape told SBS News the floods in April were “pretty horrific” and said the latest flooding was “coming up just like” the previous disaster.
“I think everyone is a bit more cautious because of the last time it was here, but at the moment…there’s only so much you can move,” she said.
Charles Hutchen told SBS News “we get a flood like this almost every year”.
“It happens every year – maybe not to this extent, but it happens every year, you just get used to it,” he said.
Emergency Services Minister David Elliot echoed the sentiment, saying the heavy rain was only "10 per cent" of what was seen in the April storms.
Mr Elliot said he was delighted to learn that a person was issued with an infringement notice for negligent driving after driving through floodwaters.
"It was only nine months ago that we saw a tragic loss of life ... in the April storms,” he said.
“I would've thought that the community concern and anxiety caused by those deaths would've meant that we shouldn't have this problem."
He joined NSW police and the SES in their calls for people to avoid driving through floodwaters and only to travel if necessary.
“There is no simpler message for motorists than don't cross a road, don't drive a road, don't enter a road that you cannot see because of floodwaters - it is as simple as that,” he said.
Across the state, rescue crews carried out 28 rescues from floodwaters while there have been nearly 2000 calls for help since Tuesday.
Most of these calls related to leaking roofs and property damage, but volunteers responded to everything from cows blocking traffic to flying a 42-weeks pregnant woman to hospital via helicopter, the SES said.
Several severe weather warnings remain in place for the Hunter region, including major flood warnings for Williams and Paterson rivers, but the weather bureau predicts the heavy rain will subside on Thursday.
It's estimated a month's rain has fallen in the past two days, with more than 200mm falling in less than 24 hours along parts of the mid-north coast.
