Major flooding is expected in towns across the central west with residents urged to act with care

Residents in the state’s central west are being warned to stay safe, with intense rainfall expected to hit the region this weekend.

After days of heavy downpours, communities in the central west of NSW are on high alert, with some towns expecting 50 to 100 millimetres of rain over the coming days.

The threat of flooding has seen residents in Nyngan, Warren, and Bathurst put on notice.

At the same time, with the Macquarie River peaking on Wednesday afternoon at a major flood level of 9.11m, Dubbo has also been labelled as a town of concern.

Sam Midgley from the NSW SES Warren Unit said water levels at Warren could hit nine metres, explaining the town is “expected to stay at the major flood level for the next couple of weeks”.

In a bid to bolster the services of the SES across the state, several agencies have put forward roughly 80 to 100 volunteers to help local crews on the ground.

FRNSW Flood Rescue Team in Warren. Photo: FRNSW

Door knocking has begun, with SES crews speaking to residents whose houses and businesses may be at risk, offering sandbagging to help counteract any potential damage from floods.

Several locations have been set up, allowing residents to access sandbags, including at the Dubbo Showground, Pioneer Park, Narromine Showgrounds, Welling SES Unit, Gilgandra SES Building and a further seven places which can be found on the Central West NSW SES Facebook page.

Sandbagging is available at the Showground and Pioneer Park in Dubbo. Photo: Dubbo Regional Council

NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole spoke to media at a press conference in Bathurst earlier this morning, warning those wishing to risk entering flood waters.

“We are looking at significant rainfall in various parts of the state, and this is a reminder to everybody to actually ensure that they stay away from flood waters. Please don’t risk it,” Mr Toole said.

“The ground is saturated, our rivers will come up very quickly, it’s important people do not risk it.

“If you go into those flood waters, what you are doing is not only putting your life and your passenger’s lives at risk, you’re also putting the lives of our emergency service personnel at risk as well.”

The situation has become so dire that the NSW Government declared a state of natural disaster for the Narromine Shire local government area, given the “severe flooding that hit the region in September”.

SES Crews working into the night. Photo: NSW SES

Member for the Dubbo electorate Dugald Saunders said the declaration is an essential step in supporting those local communities that were hit the hardest.

“This means assistance is available to vulnerable people whose homes or essential household items have been destroyed or damaged, and for business owners and primary producers who have suffered direct damage,” Mr Saunders said.

“Importantly, assistance is also available to Narromine Shire Council to restore essential public assets, like local roads, which we know have been hit really hard by the constant wet weather.

Mr Saunders urged residents to reach out for support.