Vulnerable locals 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 sanctuary 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 manager for northeast NSW, has actually been on the cutting edge supporting individuals 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 constant rainfall inundating the space.

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

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

"It has been truly difficult trying to get them any kind of shelter."

She said the homeless were searching for any dry locations they might sleep across a northern NSW region already handling a dire scarcity of economical housing.

"We have actually been assisting an entire family sleeping in their cars and truck," Ms Kennedy stated.

"Seeing them in this horrendous weather is actually dreadful."

The Byron Shire regional government area, south of Tweed Heads, had the most rough sleepers of any council area in the state, according to a 2024 government street count.

"We absolutely do have a real estate issue in the Northern Rivers and we need solutions," Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres established in schools, universities, health clubs and clubs could not work as a long-lasting repair to established housing issues in the area.

"I am fully knowledgeable about the significant obstacles 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 allotment," he said.

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

"So I wish to apologise in advance but we need to draw a really clear and understood line."

More than 10,000 individuals were under emergency warnings 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 areas.

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

In Pottsville, between and Byron Bay, a whale carcass was amongst the debris that cleaned up after big swells damaged the shoreline for days.

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had lost earnings due to the storm would be eligible for federal disaster 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 mental health services for impacted locations.

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

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