Vulnerable locals deal with a fight to discover food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters recede and short-term shelters shut.

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

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' regional housing and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has actually 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 constant rainfall inundating the area.

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

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

"It has actually been truly tough attempting to get them any type of shelter."

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry locations they could sleep across a northern NSW region already handling a dire shortage of affordable housing.

"We've been assisting an entire family oversleeping their cars and truck," Ms Kennedy stated.

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

The Byron Shire city government location, 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 housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we need services," Ms Kennedy said.

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

"I am fully familiar with the considerable obstacles for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but 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 orders were lifted, Mr Minns added.

"So I wish to apologise in advance but we have 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 people were isolated by floodwaters.

About 10,000 homes and organizations were still not connected 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 method somewhere else.

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

Residents from 17 NSW city government areas who had lost earnings due to the storm would be eligible for federal disaster relief funds for as much as 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the financial assistance would be backed by mental health services for impacted locations.

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

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