Northland flooding: $37m worth of damage to homes, land and vehicles

Monday, 14 September 2020

As the flood waters recede in Northland the full extent of the damage is becoming clear.

Severe damage caused by a once in 500-years flooding event in Northland has cost insurance companies about $37 million.

On Monday, the Insurance Council of New Zealand released the preliminary cost of damage caused by the July flood, and said it was more than the Southland floods in February where a state of emergency was declared.

After months of Northlanders struggling in a drought, more than 200 millimetres of rain fell in the upper North Island over 10 hours from July 17.

Flooding on roads in Moerewa reached homes following a massive deluge in Northland.

It resulted in the region being cut off by slips and high flood waters. Mangamuka Gorge, along State Highway 1, was badly affected by the weather and the New Zealand Transport Agency said it won’t reopen to light vehicles until mid-October.

* Weather: Flooding in Northland, strong winds in Auckland blow cabin off truck

* Northland drought intensified flooding impact, road closures, expert says

Thousands of properties were damaged by the flooding in July.

Damage to roads caused by slips was expected to cost $5.9 million, NZTA said.

That figure doesn’t include final repair costs for Mangamuka Gorge.

Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said the $37m figure reaffirmed the extent of the damage caused by the flooding and it was a reminder of what unforeseen events can leave behind.

Heavy rain caused flooding, slips and damage to houses and roads in Northland.

He said it also showed how important it was to have insurance.

“The costs to recover from this event have already exceeded those of the February Southland floods that saw a state of emergency declared for Southland, Fiordland and Clutha,” Grafton said.

“With severe weather predicated to become more frequent due to climate change, it is critical that we learn from these events and use them to inform ways to mitigate the risks they present, so we can improve the resilience of our communities.”

Grafton said it was the first time private insurance companies were able to manage some claims for land damage on behalf of the Earthquake Commission (EQC).

EQC covers storm and flood damage to residential land within eight metres of a residence.

Grafton said this helped the claims process move quickly and many customers were able to work through their claim with just one point of contact.

The Insurance Council said at this point, the flooding had resulted in more than 2500 house and content claims, more than 360 commercial or business-related claims and another 360 claims relating to vehicle damage.

EQC has received more than 300 land claims.

Rainfall records were smashed by the extreme rain and thunderstorms that caused the flooding.

Kaikohe, Whangārei and Kerikeri recorded their highest one-day rainfall amount on July 17, according to a monthly climate summary issued by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

Kaikohe measured 262mm – more than a quarter of a metre of rain – to reach the highest one-day rainfall total for the month.

Whangārei measured 251mm and Kerikeri 175mm, breaking records dating back to the 1940s and ‘50s.