‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable locals face a battle to discover food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and temporary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have sought refuge in NSW evacuation centres but 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 real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has actually been on the cutting edge supporting individuals sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her job was made harder on Monday due to harm to Fred’s Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with continuous rainfall swamping the area.

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

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

“It has been actually difficult trying to get them any type of shelter.”

She said the homeless were attempting to find any dry places they might sleep across a northern NSW region currently dealing with a of budget friendly real estate.

“We have actually been helping out a whole household oversleeping their car,” Ms Kennedy said.

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is actually 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 absolutely do have a real estate issue in the Northern Rivers and we require options,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs might not act as a long-lasting fix to established housing problems in the region.

“I am completely knowledgeable about the significant challenges for real estate in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not long-term options … we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance,” he stated.

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

“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 cautions in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 individuals were isolated by floodwaters.

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

Major flood warnings were still in location for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under method elsewhere.

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

Residents from 17 NSW local government locations who had lost earnings due to the storm would be qualified for federal catastrophe relief funds for up to 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the monetary assistance would be backed by psychological health services for impacted areas.

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

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