Gold Coast storms worse than Ex-TC Jasper as insurance claims start piling up
Queensland’s most storm-damaged councils will receive a $1m boost from the state government to assist with the clean-up as soldiers team up with Energex crews to start clearing huge piles of debris.
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Queensland’s most storm-damaged councils will receive a $1m boost from the state government to assist with the clean-up as soldiers team up with Energex crews to start clearing huge piles of debris left behind by tornado winds and flash flooding on the Gold Coast.
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick and Premier Steven Miles on Thursday said the Logan, Scenic Rim and Gold Coast City councils would receive the funding to assist with essential cleanup and recovery efforts which remained ongoing.
“Our message to Queenslanders and those communities is that we’ve got your back, and we’re going to help you - through your council - to get back on your feet and to get those communities in the way they were before the storm,” he said.
Mr Miles said there was still about 6000 homes without power, with the ADF working alongside 1000 energy crews dispatched across the state.
About 900 homes were hit with such significant damage electrical certification was required to restore energy - meaning some Queenslanders would still be without power even as it was returned to their street.
“We want to assure those households that there are grants available to assist them to get the electricity work done within their home,” Mr Miles said.
More funding grant applications have now been received from the combined weather events encompassing the southeast and the far north than from the Brisbane weather event of 2022.
“So this is a very significant weather event - and I want to shout out to the public servants who are working so hard to get through more applications for hardship grants than we’ve ever experienced,” Mr Miles said.
SOLDIERS, ENERGEX TEAM UP FOR CLEAN-UP
About 15-20 Australian Defence Force personnel spent the morning helping Energex staff clear fallen trees from Kriedeman Rd, chainsawing branches stuck in power lines and craning the heaviest trees off roadways.
As trees were cleared and debris piled up, residents lit small fires in the yards of their properties and the air filled with smoke and the smell of burning wood.
Hundreds of Energex staff lined the streets of Upper Coomera and Wongawallan to fix the remaining fallen power poles and gather countless broken powerlines that littered the road.
Several staff members were hoisted on cherry pickers as teams worked to reconnect residents who have now been without power for one and a half weeks.
The ADF is expected to help emergency services for at least a week, and have been provided a list of streets to attend to.
Army personnel will be directed to each job by police, depending on day-to-day priorities.
An ADF spokesman said support had been drawn from Brisbane’s 11th Brigade.
“The clearance skills of the ADF will allow essential workers to provide timely restoration of essential services and the ability for communities to return to everyday activities within the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim areas,” he said
CHRISTMAS STORMS MORE DESTRUCTIVE THAN JASPER
It comes as insurance figures reveal the Christmas tornado and New Year’s flood event has proven to be more destructive than ex-tropical cyclone Jasper in Far North Queensland.
Gold Coast residents have so far made at least 24,600 claims to insurers
The Insurance Council of Australia yesterday extended its catastrophe declaration to January 3 to include the devastating storms that struck the Gold Coast on New Year’s Eve.
A separate declaration had been made for TC Jasper in Far North Queensland but insurance claims for Gold Coast properties have already exceeded those made in the north. Of the 19,000 claims made to Suncorp, 12,500 were made in Queensland including 10,800 on the Gold Coast.
This is compared to just 1700 made after Ex-TC Jasper.
RACQ managing director and group chief executive David Carter said they had received 7187 insurance claims for the Gold Coast and Logan since December 23, including 5569 home and contents claims and 1618 motor vehicle claims.
This is compared to 655 claims made by Far North Queenslanders in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Jasper, which included 426 home claims and 229 motor vehicle claims.Several areas in Far North Queensland would be difficult to insure due to the seasonal weather conditions.
The high number of claims made in South East Queensland compared to Far Northern parts of the state could reflect the availability of insurance due to seasonal weather conditions.
Claim numbers are expected to increase dramatically with mobile and roadside assistance teams deployed to the Gold Coast on Wednesday to start helping residents lodge claims.
“Our Mobile Member Centre has relocated to Helensvale … members can also find us at the Upper Coomera Community Recovery Centre and at our branches at Helensvale, Robina, Beenleigh and Elanora,” Mr Carter said.
“We also have assessors and builders in the region attending homes and completing make-safe repairs and assessments. Claims are being triaged, according to need and circumstances.”
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) brands, including NRMA Insurance, CGU and WFI, received
9000 claims between December 21 and 29 2023 as a result of the extreme weather across Australia, 3824 of which were made by Queenslanders.
An IAG spokesman said property assessors and partner builders were on the ground conducting emergency assessments and make-safe repairs.
“Our Claims teams in Queensland continue to support customers across a number of recovery hubs set up in Upper Coomera and Mudgeeraba, and Jimboomba from Thursday,” he said.
More than 114,000 insurance claims were made by South East Queenslanders following the 2022 February flood event, but just 7865 of those claims came from the Gold Coast.
The 2022 flood damage bill hit nearly $3 billion, however insurers are reluctant to estimate the cost of the recent storms, saying it's still too early to measure the severity while assessments were being completed.
Suncorp expects to be within its natural hazard allowance of $680 million for the half year to December 2023. The natural hazard allowance for FY24 is $1.36 billion.
Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said additional assessors would be deployed to help with the large volume of claims.
“Those impacted should contact their insurer even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage,” he said.
“The ICA and insurers are working with government authorities to make sure insurance customers get access to information and assistance as soon as possible.”
Mr Hall said damaged contents such as furnishings and carpet could be thrown away, but residents needed to keep a strong record or sample of them to help with the claims process.
Under the ICA catastrophe declaration, priority will be given to those affected by the storms and flooding, with claims also triaged to process worst-affected properties first.
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