Hundreds of NSW residents remain under evacuation orders on the first day of school holidays, with forecasts warning it will take time for water to drain from saturated catchments.
Heavy falls eased across much of NSW on Friday, however, flooding is likely to continue in parts of Greater Sydney throughout the weekend.
were still being observed in the Hawkesbury-Nepean on Friday and 13 evacuation orders remained in place across 11 low-lying suburbs.
On the first day of the Easter school holiday, some 1200 people remain under evacuation order, and a further 1,500 have been given warnings they may still need to leave.
"We're urging people in those communities to remain vigilant," NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Dean Storey told the ABC on Friday.
"Hopefully we'll be able to lift those evacuation orders and evacuation warnings as soon as it's safe to do so."
Recent severe weather events had taken a toll on communities and SES rescuers, he said.
"It has been a very tough few months for communities across NSW including in Western Sydney with multiple major weather events," he said.
"It is heartbreaking. It's been a very tough storm season, one of the toughest in recent memory for the SES."
The SES has received more than 2300 calls for help and conducted about 700 rescues since the rain event began Monday.
The Rural Fire service brigade in Wallacia in the Greater Western Sydney region of NSW responds to damage caused by flood waters overflowing at the Nepean River. Credit: Facebook/NSW RFS - Wallacia Brigade
More than 1,200 SES volunteers were on the ground on Friday.
In southwest Sydney, the body of a 68-year-old man was found in a submerged van before 8am on Friday.
His body was retrieved about 1pm following an operation by police divers and the SES, but he is yet to be formally identified.
The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley is being monitored with moderate flooding at North Richmond, Windsor, Menangle, Camden and Wallacia, and peaks expected on Friday night and Saturday morning.
In Penrith, the Nepean River peaked at moderate flood levels on Friday and was falling, and in Sackville the peak is expected on Saturday, while water continues to spill at Warragamba Dam.
A flood warning has also been issued for the Orara River on the Mid North Coast, with minor flooding possible at Coutts Crossing.
"Despite the substantial flooding that we've seen across our state, what is incredibly pleasing has been that we've only lost a very few amount of lives, and that has occurred because of the efforts that everyone has made across our state in following the instructions of the SES," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said Friday.
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said the people of NSW were fatigued from extreme weather, but needed to keep following the advice of emergency services.
"It will stop raining, it will get better," Ms Cooke said.
"We just need to keep (getting) through this one day at a time."
