And there may not be any immediate relief in sight as long range weather modelling predicts more rain until the middle of next week, and more rain coming later in the month.

Residents of Smithtown, Gladstone and Crescent Head received an ‘isolation warning’ from the State Emergency Service (SES) on Sunday morning telling them that they may be cut off  by rising water and they should prepare for that eventuality.

Major roads remained open in the shire but the council is monitoring the situation and this may change as water storage areas fill up.

Kempsey recorded 97.6mm of rain on Sunday after 16.2mm fell on Saturday; this brought the rainfall total from the previous 10 days from February 23 to 448mm, not including any rain that fell on Monday.

Kempsey has now recorded more than double the average rainfall to this time of year with a total of 898.1mm against an average of 434.7mm.

A total of 532.7mm fell up until the same day in 2012.

The Macleay River peaked at 5.86m at the Kempsey traffic bridge at 6.45am yesterday, 16cm above the moderate flood level of 5.70m.

Minor flooding is caused by a level of 4.50m and major flooding occurs when the river exceeds 6.60m in height.

The river peaked at 7.1 metres at 4am on Sunday, February 24 during the previous flood, well in excess of the major flooding level.

River levels remained steady throughout yesterday with little change being recorded as the floodwater attempted to escape the sodden catchment areas.

Floodgates at Kinchela and Belmore flood gates were open with Kempsey council staff monitoring the water levels.

The floodgates will be shut as soon as is possible to minimise impact on land owners in the area.

As of Monday afternoon river levels were still higher than they were when then the flood relief gates were closed.

Regular flood,  roads and services updates are issued by the Kempsey Shire Council. 

Visit www.kempsey.gov.au or the council’s Facebook page.