Vulnerable locals face a fight to find food and somewhere 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 stop to exist after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' regional housing 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 harm to Fred's Place, the Tweed Heads drop-in centre where she is based, with continuous rainfall inundating the space.

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

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

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

She stated the homeless were searching for any dry places they could sleep across a northern NSW area currently handling an alarming shortage of budget-friendly housing.

"We have actually been assisting a whole household sleeping in their car," Ms Kennedy said.

"Seeing them in this horrendous weather is really 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 federal government street count.

"We definitely do have a housing issue in the Northern Rivers and we require services," Ms Kennedy said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns stated evacuation centres set up in schools, universities, fitness centers and clubs could not function as a long-term repair to established real estate issues in the area.

"I am completely familiar with the substantial difficulties for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not long-term options ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allotment," he stated.

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

"So I desire to apologise ahead of time but we have to draw an extremely clear and understood line."

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

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

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 among the particles that washed up after substantial swells battered the coastline for days.

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

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated the financial backing would be backed by mental health services for impacted areas.

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

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