With nearly 84mm of rain falling in the last 24 hours and a potential of another 100 to 150mm being dumped on Lismore and the Northern Rivers in the next 24 hours, NSW SES Chief Superintendent Scott McLennan is asking school holiday travellers to delay their journey if possible.

"This is a very short, sharp event that will be over by Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening," Supt McLennan explained.

"The New South Wales SES is very well positioned, very well planned, to ensure that this community remains safe. But we obviously need the community to help us with that, by making sure that they understand what their risks are, mitigate those risks, take precautions now and really, really consider whether they do need to travel."

"It is the beginning of school holidays for New South Wales, and it's the end of school holidays for Queensland. If you are driving, please take precautions on the road and drive to conditions. It's slippery, and it's windy. Anyone towing a caravan will start feeling that as well. Please just take your time; it's not a rush. If you don't have to travel today or tomorrow, please don't."

(Hepburn Park in Goonellabah at 12:45 today)

"We're just asking people in and around the Wilsons River, the Arara River and the Bellingen River to really consider what their actions are and to start taking those precautions.

"The safety advice is just to be aware that there's still some dangerous surf conditions, so don't go to the beach. There are some gusty winds that could be around. Just take precautions, as always. If it's a life threatening emergency, call 000, but if anyone needs assistance from the New South Wales State Emergency Service, call us on 132 500.

At this early stage, there have been no rescues from floodwaters.

"Everyone's actually really heeding the warning and not actually driving into flood waters, which is great to see.

"We are working with all of our stakeholders, whether that be the police, the Rural Fire Service as well as Fire and Rescue. We work with councils right up and down the coast as well to ensure that our communities remain safe and are prepared. Our units are all on standby. Our units have been making sure they've been doing all their operational readiness checks, and we're currently moving assets into known hotspots."

Supt McLennan did ease some concerns over the possible moderate flooding of the Wilsons River.

"It's just to cover bases with modelling. So, the modelling is actually showing it may get to a minor at some point. The likelihood of it reaching moderate at this stage is very, very unlikely, but the Flood Watch is just to ask the community to take precautions now.

"This is storm season. This is normal for us here in the Northern Rivers; we go through this every year. We're just now asking the community to enact their emergency plan. Start taking precautions now; make sure that you have the Hazards Near Me app. Download it to your phone, set your watch zone so you and your neighbours are safe. Take the time now to run in to make sure you've got your medications, you've got your batteries, you've got your fuel and make sure you've got your nibblies to make sure everyone's actually safe and prepared for the weekend.

If anyone does need us, they can always call us on 132, 500