Horrendous : Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain
Vulnerable locals deal with a fight to find food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters recede and temporary shelters shut.
Nearly 800 individuals have actually sought haven in NSW evacuation centres but their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear 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 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 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 repaired.
"It has been a horrendous time for the homeless neighborhood," Ms Kennedy told AAP.
"It has been really challenging attempting to get them any type of shelter."
She said the homeless were searching for any dry places they might sleep throughout a northern NSW area already handling a dire shortage of inexpensive housing.
"We've been assisting an entire household sleeping in their car," Ms Kennedy said.
"Seeing them in this horrendous weather is actually awful."
The Byron Shire regional federal government area, south of Tweed Heads, had the most rough sleepers of any council area in the state, according to a 2024 federal government street count.
"We definitely do have a housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we need services," Ms Kennedy said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres established in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs could not function as a long-term repair to established real estate issues in the area.
"I am fully mindful of the substantial challenges for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent services ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment," he stated.
The centres would close in all locations once local emergency orders were lifted, Mr Minns included.
"So I desire to apologise ahead of time however we need to draw a very clear and understood line."
More than 10,000 people were under emergency situation warnings in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 people were isolated by floodwaters.
About 10,000 homes and services were still not linked to power as heavy rain continued to fall in lots of areas.
Major flood were still in location for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under way elsewhere.
In Pottsville, between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the particles that cleaned up after big swells damaged the shoreline for days.
Residents from 17 NSW local federal government areas who had lost earnings 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 said the financial assistance would be backed by mental health services for affected locations.
"We have actually got your back, that's my message to communities here," he said from Lismore on Monday.
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