Vulnerable citizens deal with a fight to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and momentary 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' regional real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has 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 flooding the area.

On any offered day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in need but showers and laundry centers run out commission until the flood damage is repaired.

"It has been a horrendous time for the homeless neighborhood," Ms Kennedy told AAP.

"It has actually been really challenging trying to get them any kind of shelter."

She stated the were looking for any dry locations they might sleep throughout a northern NSW region currently handling a dire lack of budget-friendly housing.

"We have actually been helping out a whole family oversleeping their automobile," Ms Kennedy said.

"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is actually 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 definitely do have a housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we need options," Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, gyms and clubs could not serve as a long-lasting fix to established housing problems in the region.

"I am totally knowledgeable about the significant challenges for housing in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not permanent services ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allocation," he said.

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

"So I wish to apologise beforehand however we need to draw an extremely clear and understood line."

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

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

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

In Pottsville, in between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was among the debris that washed up after huge swells battered the shoreline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW regional federal government locations who had actually 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 monetary support would be backed by psychological health services for affected areas.

"We've got your back, that's my message to neighborhoods here," he said from Lismore on Monday.

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