‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable locals deal with a battle to discover food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters decline and short-lived shelters shut.

Nearly 800 individuals have actually sought 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 manager for northeast NSW, has been on the front lines supporting people sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her job 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 area.

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

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

“It has been truly challenging trying to get them any type of shelter.”

She said the homeless were looking for any dry places they might sleep throughout a northern NSW area already dealing with a dire shortage of inexpensive housing.

“We’ve been assisting an entire household sleeping in their car,” Ms .

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

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

“We definitely do have a real estate issue in the Northern Rivers and we need services,” Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs could not act as a long-lasting repair to established housing issues in the region.

“I am totally familiar with the significant challenges for real estate in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent services … 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 beforehand however we need to draw a really clear and understood line.”

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

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

Major flood cautions were still in place 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 washed up after substantial swells battered the shoreline for days.

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

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

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

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