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A 'watch and act' alert has been put in place by the Central West SES for the Mudgee area as Windamere Dam is over capacity for the first time since 1990, following significant rainfalls.
On Monday, 10 October Windamere Dam was recorded at 102.6 per cent capacity by WaterNSW.
Mayor Des Kennedy is calling for residents to be patient and follow signage and traffic control directions for a number of local roads that remain affected by the rain.
"I understand people need to move through the region, and there are still a number of roads closed, however safety of our staff and community is first and foremost and these assessments need to be undertaken," Cr Kennedy said.
"We've copped a lot of rain and runoff since Friday, to already soaked land, and this has obviously had major impacts to infrastructure and complete road failures in areas.
"It is extremely disheartening to hear that people are not following signage or traffic control and are driving through work sites well in excess of the advised limit in the immediate vicinity of Council staff who are doing their best to undertake road repairs.
"Not only are you damaging the road surface further by doing this, you are endangering staff who have been working through the weekend."
David Rankine, Media Officer at Central West SES said on Sunday that Windamere Dam is at risk of spilling, sending huge amounts of water down the Cudgegong River, increasing the chance of severe flash flooding in Mudgee.
"From an organisational perspective. It's probably the first time for a lot of new residents in the area who might not be too familiar with water actually coming down the Cudgegong River. It's not something it's happened pretty regularly for a long time," David said.
"it's just to let the community know that there is some real flood risks in and around Mudgee - more of a flood risk because this water comes through the Cudgegong.
"Be aware that for the first time in a very long time there could be a large number of causeway creek crossings could be flooding.
"Just be very aware that there's a real risk of potentially being stranded on causeways that you would not usually experience flooding on."
Nearly 88 millimetres (mm) of rain has fallen across Mudgee up to Sunday, 9 October with more on the way as a wave of road closures affects residents and travellers.
A number of local roads and highways were affected by flooding or flood damage.
David said they have responded to dozens of callouts and there is plenty of hard work ahead.
"We saw quite a substantial amount of flash flooding right across the Mudgee area that included probably between 50 and 60 requests for assistance from the New South Wales SES," he said.
"Most of those were storm related jobs and a large number of requests for supply of sandbags.
"We've probably gone through five or six tons and there in the community has been last night and again this morning collecting sandbags from our unit in the industrial area."
The number of potholes in regional NSW has increased 74 per cent compared to last year and continuing rain is exacerbating the damage suffered earlier in the year and hampering efforts to fix the network.
If you notice a problem with a road, please report it immediately to Council. You can report a problem on Council's website or by contacting Council on 6378 2850.
