Floodwaters have inundated about 300 homes and businesses in the flood-stricken northern NSW town, the SES says.
Aerial assessments of the northern NSW town, which remains isolated, showed floodwaters have inundated about 300 homes and businesses, the State Emergency Service (SES) said on Saturday.
The Mehi River peaked on Friday morning, causing Moree's worst flooding in almost 60 years, and leaving 800 people bunkered in evacuation centres for the second night.
About 10,000 people remain isolated in the town, which has been likened to Venice by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.
SES spokesman Phil Campbell on Saturday said the river level was beginning to drop but he warned it would be a slow process.
'It is impossible to give a firm date as to when those people can return to their homes and begin the heartbreaking task of cleaning up,' Mr Campbell told AAP.
The SES has carried out 18 flood rescues in the last 24 hours, including half a dozen people who were trapped on a shed roof with snakes swimming underneath them near Moree on Friday.
The group was airlifted to safety, but had to leave their dogs behind on the shed roof, Mr Campbell said.
'It was quite dramatic,' he said.
Elsewhere in the state, a further 6500 people remain isolated, including communities at Wee Waa, Goodooga, Gravesend and communities on the mid north coast.
The northern NSW town of Gunnedah also suffered some flooding overnight, but is not isolated.
The SES is now working to assess the impact the flooding will have as it moves downstream, with several more rural communities likely to be impacted in the coming weeks.
