‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable locals deal with a battle to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and short-term shelters shut.

Nearly 800 individuals have looked for sanctuary in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will cease to exist after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has actually been on the front lines supporting individuals 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 continuous rains inundating the area.

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

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

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

She said the homeless were looking for any dry locations they could sleep throughout a northern NSW region already dealing with an alarming scarcity of affordable housing.

“We have actually been assisting a whole family oversleeping their cars and truck,” Ms Kennedy stated.

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

The Byron Shire regional federal government area, 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 housing problem in the Northern Rivers and we require solutions,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres established in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs could not serve as a long-lasting fix to entrenched real estate problems in the area.

“I am totally knowledgeable about the substantial obstacles for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent solutions … we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance,” he said.

The centres would close in all locations once regional emergency situation 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 people were under emergency situation cautions in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 people were isolated by floodwaters.

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

Major flood warnings were still in place for parts of the and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under way somewhere else.

In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the debris that washed up after substantial swells battered the shoreline for days.

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

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated the financial backing would be backed by psychological health services for impacted locations.

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

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