SES deploys extra crews to Gunnedah as town prepares for major flooding from Namoi River overnight on Friday

Many locals are prepared for the revised flood peak of 8.30m with some residents even prepping for the levels to hit 8.50m in town, because they've been caught short by predictions before.

The State Emergency Service (SES) said more than 30 volunteers were on the ground, and had already doorknocked properties that could be affected, not once but twice.

SES spokesperson David Rankine told the Leader the rescue agency had been using local knowledge all week to prepare for major flooding.

Mr Rankine said "properties had been sandbagged nice and early", and "we have learnt from previous events" so volunteers were on the front foot, and the locals on the ground were leading the charge.

"There is a lot of properties in Gunnedah that get affected at 8.50m ... they've sandbagged for that, that's the local community taking their responsibility very seriously," he said.

Teams from as far as 14 hours away in Broken Hill have arrived to back up local SES crews.

"We've got great support from out-of-area teams," Mr Rankine said, adding some would do nightshifts, and others day shift so they would not exhaust volunteers.

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The town has been told to prepare for an 8.30m flood peak overnight on Friday, after the BoM significantly raised its prediction on Friday afternoon.

At 8.20m, the SES said the Gunnedah airport would close because water would cross the runway. At that level, houses on the Talibah Flats area would also be inundated.

"Every property on the low-lying areas has been doorknocked, not once, not twice but sometimes three times," Mr Rankine said.

"This is probably the first time in awhile the community has some real confidence in what is happening.

"And that is based on local knowledge, and we applaud local community members.

"We are also planning and trusting the local knowledge in our local community in what we have done."

The raised flood peak also coincided with Water NSW's announcement on Friday that it was making new water releases from Keepit Dam, into the Namoi.

Authorities expect the releases from Keepit could add 10 to 15cm to the river height in Gunnedah.

Water NSW maintains the water will be behind the peaks, and take 18 hours to reach the town from Keepit, but it couldn't say when the releases would stop, or how long they will continue at that level.

The SES said they were keeping a close eye on the Keepit releases and the impact on water levels.

The SES maintained it had been working with local volunteers - with decades of experience on how the water flows - who had been planning all week for a peak of this size in Gunnedah.

Mr Rankine said Breeza had sat above the major flood level since midday [on Thursday] for the best part of 24 hours, which meant there was a lot of water to flow into Gunnedah, on top of the Mooki and Keepit water releases, and the Peel River flows.

"Large numbers of our volunteers will again be out in the community all night tonight, conducting patrols, visiting low-lying areas of the community and inspecting river heights as they continue to rise," an SES spokesperson said.

The Namoi had reached the moderate flood level and was sitting at 7.50m at 4pm and rising.

The SES said emergency accommodation will be available for anyone who may be displaced by the floodwaters.

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