Vulnerable residents deal with a fight to discover food and someplace dry to sleep when flood waters decline and temporary shelters shut.

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

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' local real estate and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge supporting individuals 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 continuous rains flooding the area.

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

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

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

She said the homeless were looking for any dry places they might sleep across a northern NSW area currently dealing with a dire lack of affordable real estate.

"We have actually been helping out an entire family oversleeping their car," Ms Kennedy stated.

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

The Byron Shire regional government location, 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 housing problem in the Northern Rivers and we require services," Ms Kennedy stated.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, gyms and clubs might not work as a long-lasting repair to entrenched housing problems in the region.

"I am completely mindful of the considerable challenges for real estate in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not irreversible services ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment," he said.

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

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

More than 10,000 people were under emergency warnings in NSW on Monday early morning, while 1800 people were isolated by floodwaters.

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

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

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

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had actually lost earnings due to the storm would be eligible for federal catastrophe relief funds for approximately 13 weeks, it was announced on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the financial backing 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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