Heavy rain overnight has resulted in the Armidale State Emergency Service (SES) unit responding to multiple flood rescues on Tuesday morning.
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At 8am, a crew was tasked to a priority job at Niagara Street with reports of vehicles driving through floodwaters on the unclosed road, and while there, they found a driver stranded in a bogged vehicle.
"It was one of the contractors working on the Creeklands garden who had decided to go down and mulch and then take a shortcut out that didn't work for them," SES Armidale media officer Jock Campbell said.
"We had to do a winching operation to get them out of the rising floodwaters down there."
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Then at 10am, the crew was called out to attend a flood rescue at Forest Road near Rockvale Road, but they were called off enroute.
"There was someone stuck in a car in floodwater, but they managed to get themselves out and onto dry land, so that was a nice outcome," Mr Campbell said.
"We have all of our resources on standby to see what comes for the rest of the day, but the forecast is that it is clearing up, which is lucky.
"However, motorists need to obey road closed signs and look out for flood water because it is dangerous stuff."
Mr Campbell said most roads that Dumaresq Creek runs through were now closed and are expected to remain so for the rest of the afternoon.
"If there is no more rain, then the water should subside in three to four hours," he said.
The following Armidale streets have closures due to flooding: Niagara Street, Dumaresq Street at multiple locations, Dangar Street, Faulkner Street, Taylor Street, and the corner of Douglas and Donnelly Streets.
"Residents have to find an alternative route because there is absolutely no way to get through until council make an assessment and reopen those roads," Mr Campbell said.
"If you live on the street, the best thing is to park your vehicle ahead of the road closed sign and walk to your property, but most of the locations we have closed off don't have any driveways on them."
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded only 20 mm of rainfall at Armidale Airport overnight up to 9am, but the ground is already saturated, according to Mr Campbell.
"It's going to be a very wet summer, and most river catchments and river systems are in flood and full already," he said.
"It's going to be looking wet for the next three months, according to BOM, and this is putting pressure on an already full system.
"Residents need to prepare their homes and ensure their gutters are clean."
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