‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable homeowners deal with a fight to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and short-lived shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have actually looked for refuge in NSW evacuation centres but their status as pop-up homes for some will cease to exist after the effect of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ regional real estate and homelessness manager 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 damage to Fred’s Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with consistent rainfall inundating the space.

On any provided day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in need however showers and laundry centers run out commission until the flood damage is repaired.

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

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

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry locations they could sleep throughout a northern NSW region currently dealing with a dire lack of cost effective real estate.

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

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

The Byron Shire city 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 issue in the Northern Rivers and we need services,” Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres established in schools, universities, health clubs and clubs might not serve as a long-lasting fix to established housing issues in the area.

“I am totally aware of the considerable difficulties for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not long-term services … we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment,” he said.

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

“So I wish to apologise beforehand but we need to draw a really clear and understood line.”

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

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

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

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

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

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the financial support would be backed by psychological health services for affected locations.

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

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