‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

Vulnerable citizens face a fight to find food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and momentary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have sought refuge in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear after the effect of Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ regional real estate and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has 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 consistent rainfall flooding the area.

On any offered 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 actually been a horrendous time for the homeless community,” Ms Kennedy informed AAP.

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

She said the homeless were looking for any dry locations they might sleep throughout a northern NSW area currently dealing with an alarming lack of budget friendly real estate.

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

“Seeing them in this horrendous weather is actually dreadful.”

The Byron Shire local government area, 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 need services,” Ms Kennedy stated.

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

“I am totally familiar with the significant difficulties for real estate in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not long-term solutions … we do not have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance,” he said.

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

“So I desire to apologise beforehand but we need to draw an extremely clear and understood line.”

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

About 10,000 homes and companies were still not connected to power as heavy rain continued to fall in numerous locations.

Major flood cautions were still in place for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under method somewhere else.

In Pottsville, 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 local government areas who had actually lost income due to the storm would be eligible for federal catastrophe relief funds for as much as 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.

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

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

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