Vulnerable citizens face a battle to find food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and temporary shelters shut.
Nearly 800 individuals have looked for refuge in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.
Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' regional real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge supporting individuals 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 continuous rains flooding the area.
On any given day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in requirement but showers and laundry centers are out of commission until the flood damage is repaired.
"It has been a horrendous time for the homeless community," Ms Kennedy told AAP.
"It has been actually tough attempting to get them any kind of shelter."
She said the homeless were looking for any dry places they could sleep throughout a northern NSW area currently dealing with an alarming lack of economical real estate.
"We've been assisting a whole family oversleeping their car," Ms Kennedy said.
"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly horrible."
The Byron Shire regional federal government location, 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 need options," Ms Kennedy stated.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres established in schools, universities, gyms and clubs might not function as a long-lasting repair to established housing problems in the region.
"I am completely aware of the significant obstacles for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not long-term solutions ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment," he stated.
The centres would close in all areas once local emergency orders were lifted, Mr Minns added.
"So I wish to apologise beforehand but we have to draw an extremely clear and understood line."
More than 10,000 individuals were under emergency cautions in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 people were separated by floodwaters.
About 10,000 homes and organizations 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 way in other places.
In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was among the particles that cleaned up after big swells damaged the shoreline for days.
Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had lost income due to the storm would be eligible for federal disaster relief funds for up to 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the monetary assistance would be backed by mental health services for affected locations.
"We've got your back, that's my message to communities here," he stated from Lismore on Monday.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
