Australia's Queensland flood losses estimated at $678m: PERILS

The insured property losses caused by the Townsville flood in Queensland, Australia from January 26 to February 10, 2019 is expected to be A$957 million ($678 million), according to PERILS.

The Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider has released its initial loss estimate based on loss data collected from affected insurers. It covers the property line of business only. Losses from motor and other lines of business are not included.

An updated estimate of the market loss from the Townsville flood will be made available on 26 April, three months after the event start date, PERILS said.

The Townsville floods were the result of a slow-moving monsoon system which brought exceptional rainfall to northern Queensland in late January and early February 2019. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported numerous sites in elevated areas that experienced 10-day rainfall accumulations of more than 2000mm. For the city of Townsville, the accumulated totals from consecutive days were the highest since records began in 1888.

The resulting surface and river flooding caused large devastation in rural northern Queensland and major losses in the city of Townsville, where flooding by the Ross and Bohle rivers resulted in severe damage to thousands of homes, businesses and public infrastructure.

Flooding in Townsville was further exacerbated by the opening of the spillway gates of the Ross River Dam as the reservoir’s capacity exceeded 200 percent. Four people drowned in the flood waters and two people died from infections.

Darryl Pidcock, head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, commented: “Given the record-breaking amount of rain which fell over North Queensland from 26 January to 10 February, it is no surprise that extensive flooding occurred from overflowing rivers and surface water run-off.

"After 1998, 1953 and 1946, this is the fourth time in the last 100 years that the Townsville region has been affected by severe floods. This clearly underpins the need for reliable flood insurance data which PERILS strives to provide, helping to further improve the industry’s understanding of Australian flood risk and ultimately making it easier to insure.”

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