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‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable homeowners face a battle to discover food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and temporary shelters shut.

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

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local real estate and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge supporting people sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her job was made harder on Monday due to harm to Fred’s Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with constant rainfall swamping the area.

On any offered day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in requirement however showers and laundry centers are out of commission till the flood damage is repaired.

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

“It has actually been really difficult attempting to get them any type of shelter.”

She stated the homeless were trying to find any dry locations they could sleep throughout a northern NSW area already dealing with an alarming lack of affordable housing.

“We have actually been assisting out an entire household sleeping in their vehicle,” Ms Kennedy stated.

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather is really dreadful.”

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

“We definitely do have a housing problem in the Northern Rivers and we need solutions,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres established in schools, universities, health clubs and clubs might not function as a long-term fix to entrenched real estate problems in the region.

“I am totally conscious of the substantial obstacles for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent services … we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allocation,” he said.

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

“So I wish to apologise in advance however we have to draw a really clear and understood line.”

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

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

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

In Pottsville, between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was among the particles that cleaned up after substantial swells battered the shoreline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW local government areas who had actually lost earnings due to the storm would be qualified for federal catastrophe relief funds for up to 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the monetary assistance would be backed by mental health services for impacted areas.

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