Prime Minister Julia Gillard will face calls to increase government aid as she tours flood-ravaged Wagga Wagga to assess damage in the southwestern NSW city.
The State Emergency Service (SES) gave the all-clear for residents evacuated from the city centre to return home on Wednesday morning.
But about 1000 residents in North Wagga Wagga, the worst hit area, still face days away from home, with most of the suburb at least one metre under water and severe damage to properties.
"North Wagga is still under water and they probably will be until the end of this week," City of Wagga Wagga councillor Yvonne Braid told AAP.
"We just hope the federal government comes up with some extra dollars for all those unfortunate people."
City councillor Alan Brown says the repair bill for local roads alone will exceed $50 million.
"There'll be a great deal of road damage ... I'm already hearing anecdotal reports of quite a bit of infrastructure damage, bridges, roads, culverts."
Ms Braid and Mr Brown say they will be pressing Ms Gillard for extra recovery funding.
Shortly before flying to Wagga Wagga on Wednesday, the prime minister told reporters in Sydney a long recovery process lay ahead. "We know that water levels are starting to slowly decrease in Wagga and many people will be commencing to return home," she said.
"But we also know that getting back home is the first step on a long hard journey of recovery. It is the first step of the long slog." It could have been worse for the city.
The Murrumbidgee River peaked at 10.56 metres on Tuesday night - a whisker beneath the level predicted to endanger the city's levee and potentially swamp 3000 CBD properties.
A motorist had to be rescued on Wednesday morning after he was swept away in floodwaters 15km west of the city. Westpac helicopter general manager Stephen Leahy said the man got into trouble after leaving his car.
"We found him clinging to a tree stump," he told Macquarie Radio While central Wagga Wagga dodged a bullet, the misery continues elsewhere in the Riverina district and central west NSW.
More than 600 people were evacuated early on Wednesday morning from Griffith, North Yenda and Beelbangera. Further north, more than 1000 people were evacuated from Forbes.
The SES and other emergency services continue to respond to dozens of calls for help.
NSW Treasurer Mike Baird told a business breakfast in Sydney on Wednesday he expects a state government disaster contingency fund to be exhausted by the current flood crisis, with implications for the budget bottom line.
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