Losses mount from eastern Australia floods

Days of torrential rain continues to wreak devastation across Eastern Australia with floodwaters submerging several towns and bridges in Queensland and New South Wales.

The system continues to move to the south with heavy rains and possible flash flooding forecast for Sydney.

As reported in the Guardian, Australia’s busiest highway, the Pacific Highway, has been cut off by flood waters from the record-breaking rainfall, leaving hundreds of trucks stranded and supermarket supply chains ruptured.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) declared an Insurance Catastrophe for South-East Queensland on Saturday. It has since extended that declaration to include areas of New South Wales impacted by the weather system.

To date, the ICA said insurers have received almost 31,000 claims related to the ongoing flood emergency in South-East Queensland and the New South Wales coast.

It noted it was too soon to provide an estimate of claims costs given the event is still unfolding and claims are still being reported.

Given the scale of the extreme weather event insurers are closely monitoring the availability of temporary accommodation for displaced residents. The death toll has risen to 10.

Andrew Hall, CEO, Insurance Council of Australia, said: ”Personal safety continues to be the number one priority, please follow the directions of the authorities.

”This is still a large-scale unfolding event across two States with significant increases in claim numbers, and we expect this to continue to climb as people are allowed to return to their homes and businesses.

”Insurers are already on-the-ground helping with claims where it is safe to do so.

”I want to be clear that following the 2011 Brisbane floods insurance policies now have standard flood definitions, and if policyholders have selected that cover this will include water that is released from a dam.”