Vulnerable residents deal with a fight to find food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and momentary shelters shut.
Nearly 800 people have looked for haven in NSW evacuation centres but their status as pop-up homes for some will cease 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 damage to Fred's Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with consistent rainfall inundating the space.
On any offered day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in requirement but showers and laundry centers are out of commission till the flood damage is fixed.
"It has been a horrendous time for the homeless community," Ms Kennedy told AAP.
"It has been truly challenging attempting to get them any type of shelter."
She said the homeless were searching for any dry locations they could sleep across a northern NSW region currently dealing with a dire lack of inexpensive housing.
"We have actually been assisting an entire household oversleeping their automobile," Ms Kennedy said.
"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly 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 government street count.
"We definitely do have a real estate issue in the Northern Rivers and we require options," Ms Kennedy stated.
NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, health clubs and clubs could not function as a long-term fix to entrenched housing issues in the region.
"I am totally knowledgeable about the considerable difficulties for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not long-term 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 situation orders were raised, Mr Minns included.
"So I wish to apologise ahead of time however we need to draw a really 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 services were still not linked to power as heavy rain continued to fall in numerous areas.
Major flood warnings were still in place for parts of the Clarence and Richmond rivers, while clean-up operations were under way somewhere else.
In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the particles that washed up after huge swells damaged the shoreline for days.
Residents from 17 NSW city government areas 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 stated 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 stated from Lismore on Monday.
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