After several days of preparations and varying expectations, it now looks as though floodwaters will peak at about 10 metres sometime after 9am today.

That estimate will bring widespread relief to businesses and residents in central Wagga as it now seems unlikely that the city's central levee, built to withstand flood waters of up to 11 metres, will be overwhelmed.

It is a different story in Gumly Gumly and parts of East Wagga, where the levee can only withstand floodwaters of 9.6 metres, and in North Wagga, which will be cut off from the rest of the city when the levee is overcome at 9.9 metres.

For that reason the SES evacuated just under 1000 people over the weekend.

Emergency services and the army also worked overtime throughout the weekend to reinforce the most vulnerable areas of the levee banks, with Wagga running out of sand yesterday morning after about 50,000 sandbags were laid.

Sand was being trucked in from Albury throughout the day yesterday.

The State Emergency Service regional controller, James McTavish, said preparations for the peak had run smoothly with the exception of sightseers, who had caused problems for the evacuation of North Wagga.

The Westpac Helicopter was also called into action yesterday morning when a farmer was rescued 20 kilometres east of Wagga.

The farmer was trapped by rising floodwaters when he tried to help cattle on his property. By the time the helicopter got to him, the farmer was clinging to a barbed wire fence in a desperate attempt to ensure he was not swept away.

The emergency has also attracted the attention of the Premier, Kristina Keneally, who will today visit Wagga and several other towns affected by the floods to inspect the damage, which is likely to run into hundreds of millions of dollars across the state.

Residents were first alerted to the possibility of being evacuated at a public meeting on Friday night at the North Wagga hall, with evacuation orders issued by the SES at 11am on Saturday.

Registration centres were set up at North Wagga Public School and Wagga police station.

Residents who are unable to stay with family and friends outside of the flood-affected areas have been offered emergency accommodation by the Department of Community Services.

In North Wagga and Gumly Gumly, residents were divided over whether the SES's flood predictions would come true, with some believing the areas would be free from flooding.

Others believed the SES was right and were preparing for the worst.

Members of North Wagga Football Club spent yesterday morning filling sandbags to protect the clubrooms from flooding.

A club member, Peter Keating, said the height of the river at Gundagai on Saturday was a good indication the SES would be right about North Wagga.

''I reckon given the height of the river at Gundagai it's bound to be pretty big here,'' he said.

''We are trying to prepare so it might not be too bad if we get that rainfall that's predicted for during the week. That's probably my biggest concern.''

with Laura Little

Follow Environment on Twitter