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Two NSW towns are likely to be isolated for days as the NSW flood emergency continues.
State Emergency Service (SES) workers performed six rescues and answered 112 calls for help between 6am on Saturday and 6am on Sunday.
The towns of Warren and Wee Waa, in the state's north, are cut off by road and expected to remain that way for days.
Emergency services are using aircraft to delivery water, medicine, food and other supplies to residents.
The town of Gunnedah continues to be impacted by major flooding as of Sunday morning, however water is slowly receding.
The Namoi River peaked at the major flood level of 8.24 metres on Saturday and SES workers were on the ground to assess the damage as it became clear.
Authorities have reinforced safety warnings in the wake of a five-year-old boy's death.
He was found dead on Saturday afternoon after a vehicle was swept away by floodwaters at Tullamore, northwest of Parkes, in central western NSW.
The boy's parents were reportedly able to remove restraints from two younger children in the car, but weren't able to free the older boy.
His death has prompted renewed calls for people to take the dangers of floodwaters seriously, with SES spokesman Greg Nash saying a river or creek's conditions could change between morning and afternoon.
"We have some very resilient communities and some communities that are very much aware of their flood risk," he said on Saturday.
"(However) we want people to drive to the conditions, and if you find a flooded or a damaged road as a result of flooding, to stop, turn around, (and) find another away - it's not worth the risk to push on."
On Saturday the Bureau of Meteorology shifted their focus to early next week, when southern and central inland parts of the state could get "considerable" falls on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"It's a bit early to know exactly how high the flood peaks will get as a result of that rain, but it's definitely something that our hydrology team will be checking out pretty closely over the next day or two," senior meteorologist Jake Phillips said.
"It definitely will exacerbate some of those flood peaks and could send some of them either into prolonged major flooding, or raise them from moderate into major, potentially."
There are concerns more inland catchments could spill over, with many dams already at capacity.
In the 11 days since the flooding began, emergency services had fielded more than 820 requests for assistance in NSW, which included nearly 60 flood rescues.
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Australian asthmatics are on notice to get set for peak thunderstorm asthma season, as the La Nina weather event also puts allergy sufferers at risk.
The peak thunderstorm asthma season is set to take hold from October 1 until the end of December, according to the National Asthma Council.
Australia has one of the world's highest rates of asthma with one in 10 affected, and it's high time for asthmatics to check in with their general practitioners and make sure they are on the best treatment possible, council director and respiratory physician Professor Peter Wark said.
It is also important that asthmatics know what to do in a spring thunderstorm or asthma emergency.
"Good asthma control is critical during thunderstorm asthma season, so keep taking your preventer medication as prescribed by your doctor," Prof Wark said.
The respiratory physician also had a stark warning for those allergic to ryegrass pollen.
The La Nina event underway in the Pacific Ocean will increase the likelihood of above-average rainfall in eastern Australia, which may lead to above-average grass growth and more ryegrass pollen in the air.
People with hay fever and an allergy to ryegrass pollen could be at risk of thunderstorm asthma even if they had never before had asthma symptoms.
"If you are allergic to ryegrass pollen, you could have a severe asthma attack if you are outside in gusty winds just before or during a thunderstorm in spring or early summer in a place where there is ryegrass pollen in the air, which includes most of south-eastern Australia," Prof Wark said.
He suggested people with hay fever regularly use a nasal corticosteroid spray every day, while those who needed a reliever more than a couple of times a month should take a preventer.
Asthmatics should also make sure their action plans were up to date and included thunderstorm advice, avoid being outdoors during thunderstorms in spring or early summer, and monitor pollen counts and weather forecasts.
They should also always carry a reliever puffer and replace it before its expiry date.
In November 2016, Melbourne experienced the world's largest epidemic thunderstorm asthma event, overwhelming emergency services and leading to 10 deaths.
Among those affected by the epidemic were people with seasonal hay fever who had not ever had asthma.
The Bureau of Meteorology declared a rare third consecutive La Nina weather event earlier this month.
© AAP 2022
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Australian asthmatics are on notice to get set for peak thunderstorm asthma season, as the La Nina weather event also puts allergy sufferers at risk.
The peak thunderstorm asthma season is set to take hold from October 1 until the end of December, according to the National Asthma Council.
Australia has one of the world's highest rates of asthma with one in 10 affected, and it's high time for asthmatics to check in with their general practitioners and make sure they are on the best treatment possible, council director and respiratory physician Professor Peter Wark said.
It is also important that asthmatics know what to do in a spring thunderstorm or asthma emergency.
"Good asthma control is critical during thunderstorm asthma season, so keep taking your preventer medication as prescribed by your doctor," Prof Wark said.
The respiratory physician also had a stark warning for those allergic to ryegrass pollen.
The La Nina event underway in the Pacific Ocean will increase the likelihood of above-average rainfall in eastern Australia, which may lead to above-average grass growth and more ryegrass pollen in the air.
People with hay fever and an allergy to ryegrass pollen could be at risk of thunderstorm asthma even if they had never before had asthma symptoms.
"If you are allergic to ryegrass pollen, you could have a severe asthma attack if you are outside in gusty winds just before or during a thunderstorm in spring or early summer in a place where there is ryegrass pollen in the air, which includes most of south-eastern Australia," Prof Wark said.
He suggested people with hay fever regularly use a nasal corticosteroid spray every day, while those who needed a reliever more than a couple of times a month should take a preventer.
Asthmatics should also make sure their action plans were up to date and included thunderstorm advice, avoid being outdoors during thunderstorms in spring or early summer, and monitor pollen counts and weather forecasts.
They should also always carry a reliever puffer and replace it before its expiry date.
In November 2016, Melbourne experienced the world's largest epidemic thunderstorm asthma event, overwhelming emergency services and leading to 10 deaths.
Among those affected by the epidemic were people with seasonal hay fever who had not ever had asthma.
The Bureau of Meteorology declared a rare third consecutive La Nina weather event earlier this month.
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Penrith are through to a third straight grand final after coming from behind to beat South Sydney 32-12 and set up a promoter's dream with a battle-of-the-west NRL decider against Parramatta.
In a drama-charged preliminary final, Penrith trailed 12-0 until four minutes before halftime but led 18-12 soon after the break to take control of the match.
Souths winger Taane Milne also became the first player to be sent off in a finals match in 28 years for a high shot on Panthers prop Spencer Leniu in the final 20 minutes.
An emotional Leniu's fitness will now likely be a concern ahead of the grand final after he was sent for a second head injury assessment and didn't return.
Penrith will also sweat on the availability of Viliame Kikau and Jarome Luai, with coach Ivan Cleary confident neither of the pair will face bans for hits on Campbell Graham.
For now though, nothing though will spoil the Panthers' party as they gave themselves every chance of becoming only the second team to win back-to-back titles in the NRL-era.
"It feels awesome. It's fantastic," coach Cleary said.
"It doesn't happen every day to make any grand final.
"We've worked so hard and it's been a long season. You have so much go into it and so many ups and downs."
Nathan Cleary was brilliant as always, Kikau powerful in defence and Dylan Edwards superb at the back in both attack and defence.
But after three years of dominance and never needing to overturn a deficit of more than 10 points, they were made to work hard for this win.
They were denied three times by the bunker in the first half, as Souths scored the opening two tries of the game.
The Panthers finally stood up, with Brian To'o providing a play almost as crucial as Stephen Crichton's intercept in last year's grand final.
After a quick Kikau play-the-ball allowed Api Koroisau to dart over from dummy-half in the 37th minute, To'o picked up a dropped ball from Graham and raced 80 metres to score on the siren,
His run included an almighty fend on Cody Walker that skittled the Souths' defence, and turned what could have been an 18-6 lead for the Rabbitohs into a 12-12 deadlock.
And when Kikau produced a charge down on a Lachlan Ilias kick moments after the break and Nathan Cleary grubber-kicked for Leniu, the game was as good as done.
Cleary also scored a late four-pointer of his own as Penrith ran away with it, while his kicking again terrorised South Sydney's wingers.
Edwards produced several crucial kick returns to put Penrith on the front foot with his 230 metres and he pulled off a number of tackles as the last line of defence.
In comparison, the Panthers managed to keep Latrell Mitchell quiet, with his only real impact coming when he helped put Richie Kennar over for a try on the left wing.
Mitchell, Kennar, Graham and Milne were all regularly hit hard in the first half, while Cody Walker scored Souths' first try but didn't have his usual influence.
It came as Souths again failed to make use of a preliminary-final appearance, having reached this stage for a fifth straight year with no title.
"I come in here with optimism. And when we were 12-0 up I was optimistic," coach Jason Demetriou said.
"The competitor in me wants to hate Penrith. I really do. But the coach in me is so respectful of what they do.
"And it's a credit to Ivan and their club and what they've been able to produce for the last three years.
"They're the benchmark and they're going to be tough to beat next week."
© AAP 2022
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