Thousands of people in the central western town have been impacted after the Lachlan River burst its banks, inundating the city centre and forcing evacuations last week.

It’s Forbes fifth flood in 12 years.

Albanese on Monday visited Forbes with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, as major warnings remain in place for eight rivers across the state.

“We are living in very dangerous times in the days and weeks ahead,” Albanese said.

Relentless rain in western NSW, Victoria and Tasmania is likely to continue to cause flooding in the coming weeks, he said.

The prime minister urged people to follow warnings, with too many dismissing advice to evacuate.

“(People are) saying ‘no, we’ll be right’,” Albanese said.

That attitude was leading to multiple rescues in flooded regions, putting emergency personnel at risk, he said.

Perrottet said the community was resilient, having endured five floods in the past 12 years.

“We know over the coming week, particularly heading into summer as well, we expect more challenging weather,” he said.

“We need to keep vigilant. We need to follow the instructions.

“If it’s flooded, forget it. You wouldn’t drive into a bushfire – don’t drive through floodwaters.”

Major flooding is expected on the Murray River at Moama and across the Victorian border at Echuca, with flood heights to be as bad or worse than the 1993 flood – the area’s second-biggest on record.

The BOM predicted major flooding would begin late on Monday before a likely peak on Wednesday.

Residents at a Moama caravan park were told to evacuate by 9am on Monday, while about 200 people in the nearby Indigenous community Cummeragunja had until noon.

Floodwaters are still rising despite clear skies on the weekend in NSW, BOM’s Dean Narramore says.

Flood warnings were continuing across inland NSW and northern Victoria, he told the ABC on Monday.

“Today, we’re going to see a number of locations peak,” he said.

Another storm system is forecast to develop over central Australia on Tuesday, bringing widespread falls of 25 to 50 millimetres and thunderstorms across inland NSW.

“With everything now so wet and saturated, this is going to lead to renewed river level rises on many of our already flooded rivers – particularly as we get in towards that Thursday and Friday,” Mr Narramore said.

Major flooding at Warren, west of Dubbo, is expected to continue and more rain could cause further rises on the Macquarie River, threatening more severe flooding at Wellington and Narromine in the coming days.

The Riverina region’s Murrumbidgee River is likely to reach major flood heights on Tuesday at Narrandera, where residents were told to evacuate over the weekend.

The river has passed the minor flood level at Balranald and Wagga Wagga.

Major flooding is expected to reach Hay on the weekend.

The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the flooding in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania a significant event, beginning to collect claims and opening a hotline to assist policyholders.

The council’s chief executive Andrew Hall said the latest floods are still unfolding, but the number of claims is likely to climb.

“Insurers have significantly increased their claims team resources as the entire La Niña event has continued across the year,” Mr Hall said.