Vulnerable locals deal with a fight to find food and somewhere dry to sleep when flood waters decline and momentary shelters shut.

Nearly 800 people have sought haven in NSW evacuation centres however their status as pop-up homes for some will cease to exist after the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred passes.

Kim Kennedy, Vinnies' regional real estate and homelessness manager for northeast NSW, has been on the cutting edge supporting people sleeping rough in flooded zones.

Her job 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 inundating the space.

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

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

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

She stated the homeless were looking for any dry places they might sleep throughout a northern NSW region already dealing with a dire scarcity of cost effective real estate.

"We've been assisting a whole family sleeping in their car," Ms Kennedy said.

"Seeing them in this horrendous weather condition is truly dreadful."

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 definitely do have a real estate problem in the Northern Rivers and we require options," Ms Kennedy stated.

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

"I am fully familiar with the considerable challenges for housing in the Northern Rivers, however evacuation centres are not permanent services ... we don't have the resources, the staffing, the time, the allowance," he stated.

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

"So I desire to apologise beforehand but we need 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 individuals were isolated by floodwaters.

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

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

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

Residents from 17 NSW city government locations who had lost income due to the storm would be qualified for federal catastrophe relief funds for as much as 13 weeks, it was revealed on Monday.

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

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

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