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Long road to recovery ahead for flood victims in New South Wales and Queensland

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As the aftermath of the historic southeast Queensland and New South Wales floods reveals itself, the future for homeowners and tenants remains unpredictable.

In Brisbane, the clean-up is progressing well, with homeowners taking stock and businesses slowly reopening their doors.

But the situation couldn’t be more different in the Northern Rivers region, which received more than a year’s worth of rainfall in just a single week, with water levels reaching as high as 14.4m in Lismore, destroying thousands of homes.

Many homeowners and tenants have been left wondering what to do next when left with homes that are “uninhabitable” thanks to thick layers of toxic mud, broken windows, and now-unstable structures.

Help has been slow to arrive and the future is considerably more uncertain.

Flood waters in Lismore, NSW, reached 14.4m at peak. Picture: Getty

Tim McKibbin, chief executive officer of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, has been hearing from many sales agents and property managers on the ground.

“As a consequence of the floods, both are having new conversations with their customers that they’ve never had before,” Mr McKibbin said.

The general consensus is that not enough has been done to help the Northern Rivers region get back on its feet.

Neil Scott is the principal of Ray White Lismore and said he has been speaking to many homeowners and tenants in the area who are unsure what to do.

“We have had a lot of phone calls from people who are flood-affected asking, ‘What do we do? Do we bail out now and go? Do we fix it up and stay?’” Mr Scott said.

“There are some people who are a bit broken by it all and just want out.”

Insurance claims soar

Amanda Dann is a Lismore local who lost everything in the floods and is currently salvaging what she can from her home.

She said that finding an insurer was difficult when she purchased the property just four months ago.

“I researched so many, got quotes and was able to gain insurance that offered flood but it definitely wasn’t cheap but it was required [by the bank for a mortgage] so we paid,” Ms Dann explained.

“Because of the cost I didn’t even consider contents insurance, I never thought I’d ever have to use it.”

In flood-prone areas like Lismore, banks and insurers will often only consider lending or providing coverage for a home if it has a floor level above the one-in-100-year flood event line.

But this disaster usurped that measure.

“Moving forward, everyone could be referencing this flood, now to what weight they hold that due to the frequency of that happening is yet to be determined,” Mr Scott said.

Insurance claims have been soaring. Picture: Getty

As of March 14, Suncorp had received more than 34,000 claims with around 60% in Queensland and
around 40% in NSW. More than 80% of total claims relate to home damage.

While some flood-impacted residents were covered, not all were as insurance providers assess the location of a home and previous floods to decide what level of coverage to offer, if any at all.

Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston said customer support teams have been working tirelessly processing claims.

“Customer support teams continue to be deployed in the hardest-hit regions, providing face-to-face claims support,” Mr Johnston said.

“Our assessors and builders are working around the clock inspecting the damage, and we thank all our customers for their patience as we work as fast as we can.”

He added that the company’s digital system has been working well with around 70% of claims lodged online, and he encouraged flood-affected customers to lodge digitally if they can.

The issues at hand

Flood victims in the Northern Rivers region have been left with a long list of unanswered questions.

“Definite answers are hard to find, there are a lot of answers that involve the words ‘at this stage’ – like things could change in the future,” Ms Dann said.

“Do we fix our house or is council or whoever makes these decisions going to decide our area is too high-risk of flooding again? Where do
we live while parts of the house are fixed? What if mould takes hold and every wall has to go?”

Tenants have no where to go according to property managers. Picture: Getty

Tenants have also been displaced, adding pressure to the already overrun rental market.

Mr Scott said there have been approximately 100 flood-damaged rental properties reported to them and about 40 of them are uninhabitable.

“I know there have been inspections recently where every person there is pleading their case with the property manager telling them their story and why they need it more than anyone else, so that property manager has about 40 stories of people just pleading,” he said.

“These people are just desperate, it’s a nightmare.”

What is being done?

Locals are largely relying on charities and volunteers to clean up and fix broken properties and access essential services and support.

Many feel governments have been slow to act and definitive calls from above need to be made.

“Clarification by someone who actually knows what is going on needs to happen,” Ms Dann said.

Mr Scott said that from a property market perspective, issues could take months to resolve.

“We don’t know how the banks are going to view this now, it’s too early. That is what’s going to impact the market. Even the council, will they have to review their mapping? I would think they may.

“There are a whole lot of factors like this that are going to come out over the next period, I would say months, that are going to really determine what the market does.”

The NSW government has established a Disaster Relief Grant for individuals while the military has also been deployed to help with cleaning up. However, many feel more needs to be done.

Mr McKibbin highlighted the upcoming federal budget, which is two weeks away, could be used as an opportunity to allocate funding towards the disaster-hit communities.

Brisbane flood clean-up. An army of people from Gold Coast businesses pitch in with mud up to their knees to clean out a property on Avebury St, West End.
Mud armies have been forming across the flood-impacted regions to help with the clean-up. Picture: Getty

“Measures to enhance affordability should be part of a coordinated response, though these measures must not increase pressure on the demand side of the equation when it’s the supply side that’s under most duress,” he said.

Ms Dann said that there are groups in Lismore lobbying for the town to be moved to higher ground, similar to what happened to the settlement of Grantham in Queensland after the 2011 floods.

However, for now, local homeowners are being encouraged to wait and see, which, for many, is difficult.

“People are scared,” Ms Dann said.

“These are our homes and some that have lived here all their lives are frightened of what’s to come. How do we keep rebuilding when no one seems to have any answers?”

The post Long road to recovery ahead for flood victims in New South Wales and Queensland appeared first on realestate.com.au.

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