Zali Steggall issues ‘rain bomb’ warning, but the BOM disagrees

While the phrase ‘rain bomb’ has been popularised in recent years, the Bureau of Meteorology does not recognise the term and discourages others from doing so.

Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall. Picture: Justin Lloyd

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Zali Steggall, the Climate 200-backed independent for Warringah, has warned of an increased risk of extreme weather events such as “rain bombs” – a phrase widely used in media but lacking any scientific definition.

In the wake of devastating floods along the NSW mid-north coast, Ms Steggall warned of the impact of climate change on such natural disasters as higher humidity levels raised the likelihood of intense, bursts of rainfall.

“[That] means when we have rain events or big storms – they’re now actually called rain bombs – because the intensity of the downfall that comes in a short period of time is just so extreme,” she told Sky News on Sunday.

Flood-affected communities are beginning to mop up the damage after heavy rainfall and flooding. Picture: Scott Calvin/NewsWire

While the phrase “rain bomb” has been popularised in recent years, and used by a number of news outlets around the world, the Bureau of Meteorology does not recognise the term.

“The term has no technical or scientific basis,” a spokeswoman for the BOM said on Sunday, confirming it was not used in official forecasts.

The comments come as Labor frontbencher Tim Ayres urged insurers to pay out claims to households and businesses affected by flood damage as soon as possible.

“I want to make sure insurance companies are paying out and directing their attention to claims very quickly,” he told Sky News earlier on Sunday.

With recovery now under way in many affected communities, Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said insurers had received in excess of 3600 claims in relation to the severe flooding event across NSW.

Some people in particularly flood-prone areas, however, have been left unable to purchase affordable insurance, prompting Senator Ayres to argue that improving affordability remained a priority for the federal government.

“From our perspective, we want to keep working with the insurance sector to make sure there’s a high-quality, reasonably priced product that’s available for people in these areas,” Ayres said.

Anthony Albanese is again expected to visit flood-affected regions on Tuesday.