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Water is lapping behind shops in Forbes as stressed locals wait for the worst flooding in the central west NSW town in 70 years.

Emergency services have 22 emergency evacuation warnings out across the state including for Wagga Wagga, Gunnedah and Moama.

Some evacuations have been in place for more than two weeks.

Premier Dominic Perrottet visited Forbes on Friday where the overflowing Lachlan River could by evening exceed 10.8 metres, a mark not reached since 1952.

About 1000 people have been told to leave for higher ground.

"Follow those evacuation orders, even if you don't see flooding around you," Mr Perrottet said.

"That's the best way to keep you and your family safe."

He said 50 Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed in Forbes, with about 200 available for flooded communities around NSW.

SES senior manager Ashley Sullivan said the ADF is helping with night-time rescue capability, and support is on the way to communities in preparation of significant expected flooding.

"The ground that we're standing on here will be inundated later today," Mr Sullivan said from Forbes, where floodwaters could be seen behind him.

Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said residents in some communities might not see their property directly affected but could be isolated due to flooding, the most recent of which has eclipsed other events earlier this year.

"We are now seeing flood upon flood upon flood, the layering of one flood on another," she said.

Forbes Shire Council mayor Phyllis Miller earlier told ABC Radio floodwaters were "lapping on the back streets of the shops".

"It's pretty awful but it's what we've expected," she said.

The flood peak about 20 kilometres upstream of Forbes on Friday morning was expected to reach the township by evening, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Emergency accommodation has been set up at a local school.

Local cattle farmer Charles Laverty spent Thursday sandbagging his property on the outskirts of Forbes, with about one third of his paddocks already underwater.

Continued flooding has hit the area and other farming communities hard, as they struggle to recover from repeated bouts of destruction to crops and livestock losses.

"A lot of (my neighbours) have given up on harvesting those areas, which is very expensive," Mr Laverty told AAP.

"The losses are going to be devastating for them."

With livestock losses mounting in Forbes, the NSW Department of Primary Industries has stepped in with local agencies to airlift some 1200 sheep via helicopter.

The rescue operation, using a cage suspended underneath, took about eight hours to move all the animals to a safe location on higher ground.

Meanwhile, police divers continue to search for a man swept out of a ute tray into a flooded river in the Southern Tablelands.

Two men were flung from the tray on Monday night when the ute was driven across a causeway. The other man's body was found on Thursday afternoon.

Elsewhere, the Murrumbidgee River has caused major flooding and evacuation orders at Wagga Wagga.

The river reached 9.72 metres on Friday morning, above the December 2010 mark and on its way to a 1952 record by the evening.

Major flooding at Hay is expected to worsen from mid-November while moderate flooding is occurring at Tumut and Narrandera.

In the west, flood peaks are flowing into the Barwon-Darling River system, causing flooding at Mungindi, Mogil Mogil and Walgett.

Brewarrina, Bourke and Louth are among towns warned to prepare for major flooding, similar to that experienced in September 1998.

© AAP 2022

Queenslanders have been assured they will have enough electricity supply while a major coal power station slowly returns to half capacity after going offline.

All four units at the Callide power station, near Biloela, were knocked out for three hours on Friday following a series of accidents and equipment failures.

Callide can generate up to 1540MW of electricity, which is roughly 30 per cent of the state's overnight demand.

Public firm CS Energy owns and operates the Callide B plant, while it operates Callide C in a joint venture with Intergen.

CS Energy said one Callide B unit is already back online and the other will return to service by Wednesday, but Callide C's two units will take much longer.

CS chief executive Andrew Bills said concerns about potential power outages in Queensland are overblown as the state has an abundance of sources.

"We've got tremendous solar, tremendous wind, coal and gas, and there are no concerns going forward regarding the electricity supply," he told reporters on Friday.

"As I said (unit) B1's already back online, B2 will be back next week, so I think those issues that have been raised are slightly misleading."

Callide's problems began when the C4 was taken out by a catastrophic explosion in May 2021, then on Monday the C3 was taken offline after a cooling tower partially collapsed.

The B2 was tripped during routine testing the following day, before B1 was also tripped by a vibration issue on Friday morning.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the incidents at Callide, and Energy Minister Mick de Brenni will brief cabinet about the situation on Monday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queenslanders didn't need to worry about the state's electricity supply.

"I'm advised that we have enough supply in the system at this stage - we'll be getting that update on Monday," she told reporters.

Mining and Energy Union Queensland vice president Shane Brunker said maintenance was being neglected at Callide "in the race to shut down coal power and move to renewables".

"The focus should be on investing in the existing fleet and exploring opportunities to improve them rather than running them down," Mr Brunker said in a statement.

Mr Bills denied those claims, saying CS Energy was upholding its statutory obligations on maintenance, and that this week's issues were a "distinct series of coincidence events".

However, he said he was taking safety concerns raised with him by unions and other workers very seriously.

"So those concerns do need to be addressed, and whatever else we need to do, working with the unions and our people, absolutely needs to be our priority," Mr Bills said.

The Callide C plant's C3 unit will be offline until November 21, while the replacment C4 unit will be online by April, CS Energy said.

© AAP 2022

Water is lapping behind shops in Forbes as stressed locals wait for the worst flooding in the central west NSW town in 70 years.

Emergency services have issued 22 emergency warnings across NSW including for Wagga Wagga, Gunnedah and Moama.

In Forbes, about 1000 people have been told to leave for higher ground as the overflowing Lachlan River creeps towards 10.8 metres - a mark not reached since 1952.

"(The floodwater) is sort of lapping on the back streets of the shops in the CBD, so it's pretty awful but it's what we've expected," Forbes Shire Council mayor Phyllis Miller told ABC Radio on Friday.

"I think there's a bit of panic in town. There are some people who have just moved here ...

"We're OK but it's just the unknown of where this flood will end up."

The flood peak was about 20 kilometres upstream of Forbes on Friday morning and was expected to reach the township by Friday evening, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Emergency accommodation has been set up at a local school.

Local cattle farmer Charles Laverty spent Thursday sandbagging his property on the outskirts of Forbes, with about a third of his paddocks already underwater.

Continued flooding has hit the area and other farming communities hard, as they struggle to recover from repeated bouts of destruction to crops and livestock losses.

"A lot of (my neighbours) have given up on harvesting those areas, which is very expensive," Mr Laverty told AAP.

"The losses are going to be devastating for them."

SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan said on Thursday areas such as Forbes were experiencing what is referred to as "blue-sky floods".

"Even when the rain has stopped falling, water is continuing to move downstream through various catchments, creating issues with river rises and renewed flood peaks," she said.

Meanwhile, police divers are continuing to search for the body of a man swept out of a ute tray and into a flooded river in the Southern Tablelands.

The man was one of two flung from the tray on Monday night when the ute was driven across a causeway. Police divers found the other man's body on Thursday afternoon.

Elsewhere, the Lachlan River is inundating parts of Nanami, while major flooding continues further downstream at Condobolin. The river is not expected to fall for weeks.

The Murrumbidgee River has also burst its banks, with major flooding and evacuation orders for the major regional centre of Wagga Wagga.

The peak is expected about midday on Friday and is forecast to be higher than the December 2010 flood and similar to the June 1952 flood.

Moderate flooding is continuing at Tumut and it's a similar story for Narrandera, with major inundation possible early next week.

In the west, flood peaks are flowing into the Barwon-Darling River System from multiple tributaries causing flooding at Mungindi, Mogil Mogil and Walgett.

Brewarrina, Bourke and Louth are among towns being warned to prepare for major flooding this month similar to that experienced in September 1998.

BOM said predictions would continue to be revised as upstream peaks were observed.

Concerns are also being raised for the state's road network which has been devastated by repeated, prolonged floods.

"We actually need extra funding for our roads but it's not just funding - we need manpower," Forbes mayor Ms Miller said.

"Our roads are our economic base."

© AAP 2022