Vulnerable homeowners face a fight to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters recede and temporary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have looked for refuge 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' regional real estate and homelessness supervisor for northeast NSW, has been on the front lines supporting people 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 offered day, the centre serves about 130 hot meals to those in need however showers and laundry facilities are out of commission up until the flood damage is fixed.

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

"It has been really difficult attempting 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 already dealing with a dire shortage of inexpensive housing.

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

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

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 solutions," Ms Kennedy stated.

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

"I am fully familiar with the significant difficulties for real estate in the Northern Rivers, but evacuation centres are not irreversible solutions ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance," he stated.

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

"So I wish to apologise beforehand but we have to draw a really clear and understood line."

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

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

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

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

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had 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 financial backing would be backed by mental health services for affected locations.

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

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