Rainfalls have eased over the past week despite the fact the New Years Day race meeting was called off. Hail, severe storm and flash flood warnings however were still in place for much of the Northern Tablelands even as recently as last Sunday January 3.

A senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology Peter Zmijewski though says the system that brought the downpours is now weakening and moving west with the town of Coonamble now copping the brunt of that downpour.

The Castlereagh river that runs through the town reached peak heights yesterday morning.

Locally, many continue to count the cost of erratic weather patterns ranging from drought to flooding and not to mention all this on the back of the horrendous bushfires.