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Vulnerable locals deal with a battle to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and momentary 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 effect of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.
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Kim Kennedy, housing and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has actually 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 continuous rains swamping the space.
On any given day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in requirement but showers and laundry facilities are out of commission till the flood damage is fixed.
"It has been a horrendous time for the homeless neighborhood," Ms Kennedy told AAP.
"It has actually been actually tough trying to get them any kind of shelter."
She said the homeless were trying to find any dry locations they might sleep across a northern NSW area currently handling an alarming shortage of budget friendly housing.
"We have actually been assisting out a whole family oversleeping their vehicle," Ms Kennedy stated.
"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is really dreadful."
The Byron Shire city government area, south of Tweed Heads, had the most rough sleepers of any council area in the state, according to a 2024 government street count.
"We absolutely do have a real estate problem in the Northern Rivers and we require options," Ms Kennedy said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres established in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs might not serve as a long-lasting fix to established real estate problems in the region.
"I am totally conscious of the considerable obstacles for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not irreversible solutions ... we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance," he stated.
The centres would close in all areas once local emergency situation orders were lifted, Mr Minns added.
"So I wish to apologise beforehand however we need to draw a really clear and understood line."
More than 10,000 individuals were under emergency situation cautions in NSW on Monday morning, while 1800 people were separated by floodwaters.
About 10,000 homes and businesses were still not linked 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 elsewhere.
In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the particles that cleaned up after substantial swells damaged the shoreline for days.
Residents from 17 NSW regional federal government locations who had actually lost income due to the storm would be qualified for federal disaster relief funds for up to 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the financial backing would be backed by psychological health services for affected locations.
"We have actually got your back, that's my message to neighborhoods here," he stated from Lismore on Monday.
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'Horrendous': Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain
melindaervin41 edited this page 2025-07-07 20:12:14 +08:00