Big toys assist the flood effort as Murrumbidgee River begins to recede in Wagga

The behind-the-scenes look at the flooding on Boorooma and Gardiner streets came as the SES conducted inspections in North Wagga.

A special high-clearance ex-army Mercedes Benz Unimog truck and its driver, Terence Siriwardena, have been in town assisting with the flood effort over the past five days.

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The 26-year-old is based out of metropolitan Sydney and as he wrapped up his five-day deployment on Thursday he reflected on what has been an action-packed week.

"It's been quite an eventful time," he said.

"We've done a lot to help out the community, so I'm pretty happy with the outcome."

Mr Siriwardena said during the current flooding event he has been involved in a lot of reconnaissance work around the city.

"Essentially, that involves keeping an eye on the river level, how high it is getting and how much it impacts the people who are living in the area."

Mr Siriwardena and the Unimog also played a vital role in the rescue of 88-year-old Les Randle and his dog Tilly at Yarragundry on Wednesday.

Given the sheer height of the creek however, a twin-engine motorboat and more SES crews were also called in to assist.

"We've had a few evacuations and put out some emergency warnings to get people out of their homes, and most people have listened to our advice, which has helped us a lot and resulted in less rescues," he said.

"But as always, we have the assets we need to conduct rescues and we want the public to help us by not driving through floodwaters.

"We also want them to assist us to helping people who need evacuation and resupply."

A builder by trade, Mr Siriwardena is one of a just a handful trained to drive the state-owned Unimog truck.

Designed for very rough terrain, the manual drive vehicle has a number of special features.

"It has a reverse engagement, so... all eight gears are in reverse as well," Mr Siriwardena said.

He said the truck is generally operated in two-wheel-drive mode on regular roads, but can also switch to four-wheel-drive.

"That feature is mainly used when we're going through water," he said.

The vehicle sits so high above the road that it can drive through floodwaters up to 1.2 metres deep.

"The vehicle's high clearance means the chances of it getting stuck are much lower [than an ordinary vehicle]," Mr Siriwardena said.

Despite this, he said SES crews are careful not to drive on flooded roads unless there's a genuine need to do so such as someone's life being at stake.

"We go through a lot of training to drive through water. It's not simply about going through any puddle of water," Mr Siriwardena said.

He said this includes looking for telltale signs on the water surface to determine if there are gaps lurking below.

"It's important for the public to understand we're not just driving recklessly through floodwaters," he said.

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