‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable locals deal with a fight to find 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 ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ regional housing and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge supporting people 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 rainfall swamping the area.

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

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

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

She said the homeless were searching for any dry locations they could sleep across a region currently dealing with a dire lack of inexpensive housing.

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

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is really terrible.”

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 government street count.

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

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

“I am totally mindful of the significant obstacles for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not irreversible services … we don’t have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allocation,” he stated.

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

“So I want to apologise in advance but we need to draw a really clear and understood line.”

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

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

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

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

Residents from 17 NSW local government locations who had actually lost income due to the storm would be eligible for federal catastrophe relief funds for as much as 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.

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

“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