Flood devastation damage bill balloons past $1b

The economic impact of a once in 50-year-flood that devastated much of NSW and south east Queensland last month is estimated to have surpassed the billion dollar mark.

SES aerial reconnaissance along the coastline of Port Macquarie. Picture: NSW SES Port Macquarie Unit.

The economic impact of a once in 50-year-flood that devastated much of NSW and southeast Queensland last month is estimated to have surpassed the billion dollar mark as the total number of insurance claims alone ballooned to $600m this week, with industry leaders warning the full cost may not be known for months.

The Insurance Council of Australia said it had received 40,057 claims relating to the natural disaster as of Wednesday, pushing the total loss to $600m, though cautioned the figure could rise higher as more claims were filed.

“With these floods we still have assessors out so because of the scale these assessments will take time,” a spokesperson said.

“These are estimated losses and until a claim is lodged and closed you don’t know (the full extent), and you don’t know how long that will take.”

In NSW where the worst hit regions in the Sydney basin, Mid North Coast and Hunter were pummelled by the downpour over five days – damaging 4460 homes and rendering 1196 uninhabitable – state government assistance has already surpassed an estimated $556m as of Thursday.

This included $56m in response and emergency relief as well as $500m in recovery programs, $300m for the immediate clean-up and $200m for grants to support small businesses, primary producers and not-for-profits.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said these figures were likely to change as the full extent of the damage was counted, with further details on the financial impact due to be released as part of the 2021-22 state budget.

“The NSW Government is working to quickly respond to the challenges being faced, including repairing and reopening roads to restore access, as well as providing grants to primary producers and small businesses,” he said.

“Given flood waters are still receding in some areas and there are ongoing weather events occurring, all estimates of flood impact are indicative at this stage and subject to change.”

The federal government has already injected more than $212m in Disaster Recovery Payments and Disaster Recovery Allowance, with 174,000 claims already processed.

It estimated that the damage bill for the agricultural sector would surpass $100m across all industries.

The Queensland government said it was too soon after the event to have compiled a tally but said flood disaster funding was being distributed through local councils.

The agricultural sector also suffered significant losses with NSW Department of Primary Industries recording 431 damage reports as of this week, totalling more than $74.1m.

This included $30.9m in damages to farm infrastructure, $16.4m to the aquaculture industry, $13.2m to the horticulture industry and $1.2m lost livestock.

“The March 2021 flood event caused significant damage to the NSW primary industries sector and it is expected that the losses will not be realised for some time,” a spokesperson said.

NSW Farmers Association chief executive Peter Arkle said the floods had been devastating to primary producers and the total losses would stretch way above insurance estimates.