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‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable residents face a battle to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters decline and temporary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 individuals have sought refuge in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will stop to exist after the effect of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local housing and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has been on the front lines 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 consistent rainfall flooding the space.

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

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

« It has been really tough trying to get them any type of shelter. »

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry places they might sleep throughout a northern NSW region currently dealing with an alarming lack of economical housing.

« We’ve been helping out an entire household sleeping in their cars and truck, » Ms Kennedy said.

« Seeing them in this horrendous weather is actually dreadful. »

The Byron Shire regional government area, 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 real estate problem in the Northern Rivers and we need solutions, » Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres established in schools, universities, health clubs and clubs might not act as a long-lasting repair to entrenched real estate problems in the region.

« I am fully familiar with the significant difficulties 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 said.

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

« So I wish to apologise in advance however we need to draw a very clear and understood line. »

More than 10,000 people were under emergency situation warnings in NSW on Monday early 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 warnings were still in place for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under way elsewhere.

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

Residents from 17 NSW local federal government locations who had actually lost earnings due to the storm would be eligible for federal catastrophe for approximately 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.

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

« We have actually got your back, that’s my message to neighborhoods here, » he stated from Lismore on Monday.

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