Torrential rain and flooding have caused millions of dollars of damage to roads, crops and properties in northern NSW, local mayors say.
The Shire of Gunnedah and Tamworth have been declared natural disaster zones as clean-up operations continue after weekend floods.
The declaration means shires will be able to receive aid from the NSW Government to meet the damage bill.
Heavy rain also caused flooding in other parts of northern NSW, damaging infrastructure, homes and rural properties.
Tamworth mayor James Treloar said more than 160mm of rain fell in 24 hours and parts of the town had received an ''enormous amount of localised flooding''.
''It's a fairly significant flood,'' Mr Treloar said.
''The river systems haven't caused the flooding: it's more the gullies and the culverts.''
He said there had been a lot of road damage, with part of the Union Highway washed away for the first time.
''It's been a very unusual flooding event,'' he said.
''You're talking about millions of dollars' worth of damage. There are a couple of mountainous areas where we've lost the entire road and farms have lost permanent fencing.''
Gunnedah Shire Mayor Adam Marshall said some farmers had lost all their crops after 10 years of drought.
A storm that dumped more than 100mm of rain in 50 minutes had caused enormous damage across the shire, he said.
''It's the most intense storm that Gunnedah's ever experienced in recorded history,'' Mayor Marshall said.
''That storm surge caused enormous damage across the shire in terms of primary production, but also in terms of our rural road network.''
He put the local damage bill at millions of dollars. But the council won't know the full extent of the damage until floodwaters recede.
Floodwaters on the Namoi River peaked at Gunnedah about 6pm on Sunday, with State Emergency Service personnel having to evacuate a number of homes.
The floodwaters are now slowly moving down river towards Bogga-bri and Wee Waa, where the peak is expected tomorrow.
The flood swept through the home of 75-year-old pensioner Margaret Cashmere, of Westdale, who lost her clothes, bedding, furniture and seven valuable golden pheasants which drowned in their aviary.
She said yesterday she couldn't bear the thought of the clean-up ahead, and her part-time bird-breeding business was finished.
''There's just so much damage. The assessor has been, but no one has come to help ... It's just devastation.''
With no rain forecast for the next few days, the worst of the flooding was now over, SES spokesman Phil Campbell said.
''It settled down a lot overnight,'' Mr Campbell said. ''There was around 20 properties that had water through yards and around them and across some of the streets at the river end of town. There was also some isolation of rural properties around Gunnedah, and we'll be keeping an eye on those properties over the next day or so.''
Mr Campbell said some people had ignored warning signs and road closures and driven into floodwaters. ''Two people yesterday had to be rescued in Gunnedah because they deliberately drove into floodwater ... and we had seven in Tamworth.''
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