Some residents who were told to evacuate as part of a group of about half a million people in New South Wales have been given the all-clear to return home.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) cancelled the severe weather warning for Sydney, the Illawarra and Central Tablelands on Thursday evening.
It said heavy rain totals of between 60 and 100 millimetres are forecast for the mid-north coast and Hunter region, with the possibility of damaging wind gusts.
The residents allowed to return were in Sydney's south-west, including parts of Milperra, Warwick Farm, Georges Hall, Holsworthy and Picnic Point.
Most dams in Greater Sydney have spilled, including all dams in the Upper Nepean region.
The Warragamba dam spillage was been revised down from about 600 gigalitres of water to between 300 and 350 gigalitres a day.
Dam levels are still being monitored in western Sydney along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Georges rivers, and the Colo and Macdonald rivers at Menangle, North Richmond, Penrith and Windsor.
Teenagers battle against storm waves at Bronte Baths Baths, in Sydney on 3 March 2022. Source: AAP / AAP
The BOM says the slow-moving offshore low pressure system that has delivered hundreds of millimetres of rain and floods across two states over the past week will begin to weaken.
Bureau meteorologist Jackson Browne says the low is expected to wash out overnight, but another cold front - on the way from Victoria - will bring more rain and severe weather into the weekend.
The earlier evacuation orders applied to tens of thousands of people living in Sydney's west, northwest and southwestern suburbs including Windsor, North Richmond, Camden and Milperra. They were relocated to evacuation centres set up in suburbs including Canley Vale and Blacktown.
Charity Save the Children Australia has set up child-friendly spaces at the Canley Vale centre and has also sent teams to northern NSW centres.
Some 650 properties - mainly along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo rivers - have had power cut.
Power is also out for thousands of properties further north in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers region, after flooding earlier in the week.
Much of the damaged network is still underwater.
In Lismore, the clean-up and search of flooded homes continues, with four fatalities confirmed so far.
The town is also facing shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, fresh water and cash as ATMs run out of money.
SES members have come to NSW from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania to assist local units.
Insurers have already received more than 60,000 claims from recent flooding in southeast Queensland and around NSW.
The majority of those claims are from Queensland, however, the Insurance Council of Australia expects NSW claims to increase as flooding continues.
More than 80 per cent of the claims are for flooded properties, with the rest for vehicles.
The Insurance Council of Australia predicts about $900 million worth of claims to come through insurers.
