Vulnerable citizens deal with a fight to discover food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and momentary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have actually looked for refuge in NSW evacuation centres but their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has actually been on the front lines 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 need however showers and laundry facilities run out commission until the flood damage is fixed.

“It has been a horrendous time for the homeless community,” Ms Kennedy informed AAP.

“It has been truly tough attempting to get them any kind of shelter.”

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry locations they could sleep across a northern NSW region currently handling an alarming scarcity of inexpensive real estate.

“We’ve been helping out a whole household oversleeping their vehicle,” Ms Kennedy said.

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly dreadful.”

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

“We definitely do have a housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we require options,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation in schools, universities, gyms and clubs might not work as a long-lasting fix to entrenched real estate issues in the area.

“I am totally mindful of the considerable obstacles for housing in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not irreversible solutions … we don’t have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance,” he stated.

The centres would close in all areas once local emergency situation orders were lifted, Mr Minns included.

“So I desire to apologise ahead of time however we need to draw a very clear and understood line.”

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

About 10,000 homes and businesses were still not linked to power as heavy rain continued to fall in numerous areas.

Major flood warnings were still in place for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under way in other places.

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

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had actually lost income due to the storm would be qualified for federal catastrophe relief funds for approximately 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.

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

“We have actually got your back, that’s my message to communities here,” he stated from Lismore on Monday.

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