Hundreds of residents in the New South Wales Central West town of Forbes have decided not to evacuate ahead of a major flood peak on the Lachlan River today.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the river is steady at 10.55 metres, just short of a predicted major level peak of 10.6m.
The State Emergency Service (SES) had told as many as 600 residents in low-lying parts of the town to evacuate by 8pm Thursday, amid warnings it could then become too late to leave.
Hundreds of people have decided to stay put and the evacuation centre has closed after the only two people who registered did not require accommodation or assistance.
It will reopen if required.
The order covers around 250 homes and businesses, including the central business district, and it is not yet clear how long it would take before the order might be lifted.
Chief superintendent Ken Murphy said the SES would be encouraging people who may not have followed evacuation orders to do so.
"We'll continue to work with those communities, we'll be doing some doorknocks in those areas and advising people to heed our warnings," he said.
Mr Murphy said the flooding could continue for several months.
"This is a very prolonged event and we still have a long, long way to go," Mr Murphy said.
Like many Forbes residents, Paul Doust was not alarmed by the evacuation orders and suspected others weren't either, "probably because it's happened before".
Mr Doust was sandbagging his late father's house in the evacuation zone this morning.
"I've seen it all before … this is fairly minor flood, just here anyway, there might be more water on the other side of the river," he said.
But with so much water already in the river system, Mr Doust said he and other residents expected this would be a prolonged event with the potential of a bigger flood in the future.
Andrew Edmunds from the SES said crews were keeping an eye on the developing situation and would reassess conditions later today before reconsidering the warnings.
"That water is continually moving and each time we have a rain event across those areas there it just adds to that water," he said.
"This could be a continuing thing that goes on for a number of months dependent upon those weather conditions."
Overnight, more than 20 millimetres of rain fell at Forbes, which Mr Edmunds said "may have" an effect on the flooding.
He said that it "may be unsafe" for those who had not left their homes.
Search for missing man continues
The search for a man believed to be missing in flood waters in the state's west has entered its fourth day after being suspended overnight because of weather conditions and rising river levels.
Phillip Alvaro, 63, left a rural property on Lachlan Valley Way at Hillston at midday on Tuesday.
Police said he told a friend that he would return shortly.
He was reported missing several hours later.
The multi-agency ground and air search is focusing on the property and the Lachlan River.
Floodwaters move downstream
There are still multiple emergency warnings in place in the Wagga Wagga area, including Moorong Street, Edward Street West, Wilks Park and the Oura Beach camping area.
The Murrumbidgee River peaked at Wagga Wagga on Thursday morning and floodwater continues to move downstream.
Mr Edmunds said people downstream should start preparing now.
"The Murrumbidgee is a slow-moving flood and communities have a lot of time to prepare and be ready," he said.
An evacuation centre is open at the Wagga Wagga Showgrounds.
