‘Horrendous’: Shelter Closures Pour On Housing Pain

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

Nearly 800 individuals have looked for sanctuary in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will disappear after the effect of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies’ local housing and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has actually been on the cutting edge supporting people sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her task was made harder on Monday due to harm to Fred’s Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with consistent rains flooding the space.

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

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

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

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry places they might sleep across a northern NSW area currently dealing with a dire shortage of affordable housing.

“We’ve been assisting a whole household sleeping in their automobile,” Ms Kennedy stated.

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

The Byron Shire city 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 problem in the Northern Rivers and we need options,” Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres established in schools, universities, gyms and clubs could not serve as a long-lasting fix to entrenched real estate issues in the area.

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

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

“So I want to apologise in advance however we need to draw an extremely clear and understood line.”

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

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

Major flood cautions were still in location 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 among the debris that cleaned up after substantial swells the coastline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had actually lost earnings due to the storm would be eligible 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 psychological health services for affected locations.

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

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