An "eerie silence" has descended on Michael Dowling's home town, resurfacing memories of deadly floods.
The general shop owner has watched rain lash Dungog, roads empty and rivers rise as a low-pressure weather system lingers over Australia's most populous state.
The Bureau of Meteorology has called the days of rain in northern NSW a "multi-day flood event" with rainfall expected into the weekend.
It is reminding Mr Dowling of floods that hit the rural town in 2015, inundating homes and claiming three lives.
This time the river has already peaked, but he remains cautious.
"The flood levels now are similar to the 2015 floods and way back in 1990," Mr Dowling told AAP on Tuesday.
"We haven't had complete inundation and flooding of homes, but we've had a number of landslides and roads are deteriorating significantly with potholes forming."
The mid-north coast and Hunter region have been hit the worst, with rain forecast to peak at 190mm in isolated locations.
About 4000 homes on the mid-north coast have been without power, while another 400 in the Newcastle region are in the same position.
Taree in the heart of the Hunter has taken the worst of the rain, with more than 267mm falling since 9am on Monday.
One of the regional centre's residents Anne Cross was trying to drive out of town when she was turned around.
"We just attempted to come down and under the railway underpass the water could've been as high as two metres," she told AAP.
"It's probably the worst I've seen it."
The SES had received 2000 calls in the 24 hours to 5am on Tuesday, responding to 1400 incidents, evacuating 60 people and performing 24 flood rescues.
A number of those rescues came after people drove through floodwaters, Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said.
"I don't know how many times I need to say this: please do not drive through floodwaters," he said.
The Hunter region's Lostock and Glennies Creek dams continue to spill, while the nearby Paterson River has exceeded the major flood level.
More than 30 schools also closed on Tuesday.
The SES has asked people in isolated locations to evacuate including at Dungog, Paterson, Gloucester, Bulahdelah and Chinchester Dam.
Evacuation centres have been set up in Wingham, Taree, Dungog and Bulahdelah.
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