‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable citizens face a battle to discover food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters decline and short-term shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have looked for haven 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 and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has 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 consistent rains swamping the area.

On any given day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in need but showers and laundry facilities are out of commission up until the flood damage is fixed.

“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 stated the homeless were searching for any dry places they could sleep across a northern NSW area already handling an alarming scarcity of cost effective housing.

“We have actually been helping out an entire family sleeping in their vehicle,” Ms Kennedy said.

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly horrible.”

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

“We absolutely do have a real estate issue 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 might not serve as a long-term fix to established real estate problems in the area.

“I am fully knowledgeable about the substantial challenges for housing in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not permanent 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 ahead of time but we need to draw an extremely clear and understood line.”

More than 10,000 individuals were under emergency warnings in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 individuals 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 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 debris that washed up after big swells battered the shoreline for days.

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

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

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

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636