Floods recovery must drive building rethink as threats rise: ICNZ

The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says the rebuilding of property and infrastructure damaged by recent catastrophic storms and flooding must take account of changes needed for communities to better withstand the impacts of more extreme and frequent weather events.

“Now is the moment to reset and ask questions about whether to rebuild in some locations, and if we do, how to rebuild better to protect ourselves,” ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton said today.

“Most communities have infrastructure built decades ago that may have been fit for the hazards of the time, but are now demonstrably inadequate. Massive and sustained investment is required to address that.”

ICNZ appeared today before the Parliament Environment Select Committee, which is considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill. The proposed legislation contains draft provisions to reduce risks from natural hazards as a condition of rebuilding after a disaster.

Mr Grafton says the legislation won’t fully come into effect for several years, and New Zealand should not lose the opportunity to build back better from the catastrophic events of the past two weeks.

“Repairing and rebuilding property and infrastructure in high-risk areas to the same specifications as the past will only lead to a repeat of the dreadful consequences we have all seen,” Mr Grafton said. “Indeed, it could be worse with more extreme and frequent weather events as a result of climate change.”

ICNZ advised the Select Committee that insured losses from the recent extreme weather events will exceed the record comparable losses for all of last year, and total economic losses will run into the billions of dollars.

New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson said today the impacts of flooding in Auckland in late January and now Cyclone Gabrielle are yet to be fully known and the Treasury is currently assessing the economic and fiscal impact.

“We know that this is a significant event affecting families and businesses as well as the country’s roads, bridges and energy networks and it will have a sizable impact on the economy,” he said.

“Insurance will cover significant elements of the event, but the Government will need to step up with significant resources to fix broken infrastructure.”

Gabrielle was today moving away to the southeast of the Chatham Islands, but a front extending from the storm has continued to bring rain to parts of the country. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for an area including the flood-hit regions of Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.

GNS Science has warned that thousands of landslides are expected across the North Island because of Gabrielle. After the severe weather last month, aerial surveys identified thousands of landslides across Auckland and Northland, generating more than 2000 landslide-related insurance claims, it says.

“This cyclone has caused significant damage to property and national lifeline assets, like roading and rail, and water and power services, and it’s not over yet,” GNS Science Engineering Geologist Chris Massey said.

“At GNS, we are working around the clock to provide emergency response agencies with information on where we can expect the most severe impacts from land movement to occur.”

New Zealand was also hit yesterday evening by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake. Monitoring agency GeoNet said it “caused a long and strong shake felt widely across the North Island and Marlborough region”. There were no reports of significant damage.