Crews on standby as Dungog deluge evokes 2015 memory

YOU CAN LEAD A DOG TO WATER: A man and his dog on a flooded Stroud Hill Road in Dungog. Picture: Marina Neil

WHEN heavy rain lashes, Dungog residents would be forgiven for evoking the memory of the 2015 super storm, the thousand-year event that washed away four homes and killed three people.

And it is the "legacy" of that extreme weather event that had State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers on standby over the weekend as the rain continued to fall without subsiding and floodwaters rose to concerning levels.

LAKE: John Tucker Park at Paterson was underwater on Saturday afternoon as the nearby Paterson River peaked at nearly 11 metres. Picture: Marina Neil

NSW SES spokesman David Rankin said there was a number of flood warnings on Saturday and Sunday for the Williams River and Paterson River, but conditions were much different to 2015 when the town saw sudden "overland flash-flooding".

"It's not going to be dangerous flash flooding," Mr Rankin said. "But we're asking the community of Dungog to keep a close eye out. "The flooding is only predicted to reach minor levels, we would need much more rain to see inundation onto the roads. "But given the legacy of the 2015 floods we are making sure the community is well prepared and well briefed."

BIG WET: Nicholas Tobin, 11, at Osterley, near Nelsons Plains, on Sunday crouches on the road near a paddock completely underwater. Picture: Marina Neil