‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable locals face a fight to find food and someplace 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 impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local housing and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge 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 flooding the area.

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

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

“It has been truly difficult trying to get them any kind of shelter.”

She stated the homeless were attempting to discover any dry places they might sleep throughout a northern NSW region currently handling a dire lack of affordable real estate.

“We’ve been helping out a whole household sleeping in their cars and truck,” Ms Kennedy stated.

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

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

“We definitely do have a real estate issue in the Northern Rivers and we require options,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs might not work as a long-term repair to entrenched housing issues in the area.

“I am completely knowledgeable about the considerable obstacles for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not permanent options … we don’t have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment,” he said.

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

“So I want to apologise ahead of time but we have to draw a very clear and understood line.”

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

About 10,000 homes and organizations were still not linked to power as heavy rain to fall in many locations.

Major flood warnings were still in place for parts of the Clarence 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 among the particles that washed up after substantial swells damaged the shoreline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW city 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 mental health services for affected locations.

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

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