1 'Horrendous': Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain
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Vulnerable residents deal with a fight to discover food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters recede and temporary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have sought haven in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear after the impact of Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' regional real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has actually been on the cutting edge supporting individuals sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her task was made harder on Monday due to damage to Fred's Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with constant rains swamping the space.

On any given day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in requirement but showers and laundry facilities run out commission up until the flood damage is fixed.

"It has actually been a horrendous time for the homeless neighborhood," Ms Kennedy told AAP.

"It has actually been really difficult trying to get them any type of shelter."

She said the homeless were trying to find any dry locations they could sleep throughout a northern NSW region currently dealing with an alarming shortage of budget friendly housing.

"We've been assisting out a whole household oversleeping their automobile," Ms Kennedy said.

"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly awful."

The Byron Shire local government area, south of Tweed Heads, had the most rough sleepers of any council location in the state, according to a 2024 government street count.

"We definitely do have a housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we require solutions," Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, gyms and clubs might not act as a long-lasting fix to entrenched real estate problems in the area.

"I am completely familiar with the significant difficulties for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent solutions ... we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment," he stated.

The centres would close in all areas once regional emergency situation orders were raised, Mr Minns added.

"So I wish to apologise ahead of time however we need to draw a really clear and understood line."

More than 10,000 individuals were under emergency cautions in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 individuals were isolated by floodwaters.

About 10,000 homes and companies were still not connected to power as heavy rain continued to fall in many locations.

Major flood cautions were still in location for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under method elsewhere.

In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the particles that washed up after big swells battered the shoreline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW city government areas who had actually lost earnings due to the storm would be qualified for federal disaster relief funds for as much as 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated the financial backing would be backed by mental health services for impacted locations.

"We've got your back, that's my message to neighborhoods here," he stated from Lismore on Monday.

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