Tamworth weather: emergency service crews prepared for heavy rainfall and possible Peel River flooding on Tuesday

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rain for the Tamworth region, and a flood watch is still active for the Peel River.

Local emergency services have teamed up to form a multi-agency approach to deal with calls for help and flood operations.

Soaking wet catchments have increased the chances of flooding, but have done wonders for dams.

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Chaffey Dam cracked 45 per cent on Monday, but locals will have to wait until the 50 per cent milestone before the restrictions are dropped back to the base level, permanent water conservation measures.

The BoM forecast indicates more rain could hit on Monday night and has predicted a 95 per cent chance of heavy rain on Tuesday, and rain bursts could cause up to 100mm to fall in Tamworth.

Local SES crews have reminded residents to be prepared and alert, and listen to any warnings or updates.

Superintendent Mitch Parker warned everyone to heed all alerts and signs and to never enter or drive through floodwaters.

Between 9am on Monday and 5:30pm on Monday, only 4.2mm of the wet stuff had been recorded at the BoM station at Tamworth airport.

Flood rescue crews were deployed to the Tamworth region from Queensland and South Australia to help with the response, at a time when resources have been stretched thin by devastating floods on the east coast.

There is also a flood watch in place for the Gwydir River and the Upper Macintyre River.

EMERGENCY services from interstate will support the region through a wild weather event set to sweep into town later this afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has predicted heavy rainfall and possible flooding for Tamworth and surrounds on Monday night and Tuesday.

Five flood rescue operators have been deployed to Tamworth from South Australia, and eight Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) teams have been sent to Moree, along with an aircraft designed to help with flood rescues.

State Emergency Services (SES) volunteers across the entire Western region are on standby and are ready for action, SES deputy zone commander Mitch Parker said.

"Our main focus is on this afternoon and tonight, leading into tomorrow," he said.

"I think and hope that people are taking things more seriously now that we've seen what's happening over on the coast."

Superintendent Parker said the region can expect minor to moderate flooding in rivers like the Peel, Gwydir and Upper Macintyre.

"We want people to adhere to, and take seriously, any warnings and notifications," he said.

"What we've seen on the east coast is people not adhering to the evacuation warnings and then 12 hours later they are stuck."

A flood watch is in place for the Peel River, Gwydir River and Upper Macintyre River.

The BoM has also issued a severe weather warning for the Tamworth region for heavy rain.

No volunteers from Tamworth have been sent to the coast in response to the flood crisis, but Superindentent Parker said they were "extremely strapped for resources" given the situation.

A multi-agency incident management team has been set up in Gunnedah, and the lead team for the Western Zone is based in Dubbo.

"We have to sit and wait for the rain at the moment ... we are looking at a good 100mm across the area as a whole, but focusing on some good intense downfalls," Superintendent Parker said.

The Armidale SES team responded to a flood rescue on the weekend, after a driver was caught out crossing a flooded road.

The vehicle got caught in floodwaters on Tom's Gully Road, leading to a multi-agency response and nighttime flood rescue, but the driver managed to escape without injury.

"Would you walk through a bushfire, no you wouldn't, so why would you walk into floodwater?" Superintendent Parker said.

"The biggest thing we ask of people is not to enter or drive through floodwaters."

The latest SES flood watch alert indicates moderate flooding is expected for the Peel River, while the Namoi, Gwydir and Upper Macintyre could see moderate to major flooding in the coming days.

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