Macquarie River at Dubbo not expected to reach minor flood level of 5.5m

Dubbo-based Zone Commander for the Western Zone of the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), David Monk, advised the Macquarie River at Dubbo was "looking quite good actually" when he spoke to the Daily Liberal at midday on Wednesday.

"I would suggest at the moment that the river will still come up and it will be a full river, but it is not expected at this stage to exceed minor flood level of 5.5 metres (m)," he said.

"Right at this very moment the level of the river at Dubbo is 2.09m and steady."

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A previous forecast for Dubbo of between 50 and 90 millimetres (mm) of rain on Monday and Tuesday had prompted preparations for the possibility of the river spilling onto Bligh Street in the central business district and the Emile Serisier Bridge being closed.

"The initial modelling suggested there was potential for the river to reach moderate flooding level of 7.9m," Chief Superintendent Monk said.

"However, we didn't see that heavy rainfall in the Macquarie catchment."

The Bureau of Meteorology has recorded 26.4mm of rain at Dubbo in the 24 hours to 9am Monday, 52mm in the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday and 8.2mm in the 24 hours to 9am Wednesday.

On Wednesday it was forecasting sprinkles of rain at Dubbo up until Tuesday.

The city had received 187.2mm of rain this month, almost three times average rainfall of 63.5mm.

Since Saturday, SES volunteers have attended 18 calls for help from people at Dubbo experiencing the likes of leaking roofs and flash flooding.

People driving through water on back roads necessitated "two flood rescues".

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