Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Upper Hunter added to Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements list as flood waters start to drop

Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Upper Hunter council areas have been added to the state and federal governments' joint Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements list.

The support includes help for people whose homes or belongings have been damaged, support for councils for costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged public assets, financial assistance for primary producers small businesses and non-profit organisations and freight subsidies for primary producers.

All recorded river heights in the region's disaster areas have now peaked or were near peak, the Bureau of Meteorology reported on Friday afternoon.

However several communities including Hinton, Luskintyre, Putty and Mount Royal remained trapped on Friday, and many roads were still closed.

An evacuation order was still in place for the Whittingham and Combo areas in Singleton.

State Emergency Service spokesperson Clare Mintern said about 15 Australian Defence Force personnel had been deployed in Singleton to help with the clean-up.

"The SES units are quite exhausted," she said.

Moderate flooding was still occurring on the Hunter River at Maitland, but was levelling out around the 9.4 metre flooding mark and expected to remain above the moderate flood level (8.90m) through to Saturday morning.

The flood level at the Wollombi Brook, Bulga dropped below the major level on Friday. The Bureau of Meteorology initially predicted major flooding until Monday, but the level fell faster than anticipated.

River levels at Singleton fell down to the minor level at 10.22 metres on Friday after peaking above major at 13.16 metres about 7pm Wednesday. The river at Singleton was likely to fall below the minor level (10m) on Friday evening.

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The Lower Hunter River at Raymond Terrace was expected to remain below the minor flood level (2.50 metres).

The week's heavy rainfall has helped top the region's total water storage up to 98.2 per cent full on Friday.

Property owners affected by the floods are also being warned to be wary of asbestos in damaged materials and flood debris that may have washed onto their properties.

"When homes and other buildings containing asbestos are damaged or destroyed during floods, wind and storms, asbestos-containing materials can become eroded, disturbed, broken or friable causing a health risk to homeowners, property owners, property managers and the community if these materials aren't managed correctly and disposed of safely," National Asbestos Awareness campaign ambassador Cherie Barber said.

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