ICA declares “significant event” for New South Wales flooding

By Ryan Hewlett

May 21 - (The Insurer) - The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a “significant event” for the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wales impacted by significant rainfall and flooding in recent days.

The impact of this recent flooding has been felt most significantly in communities along the Mid Coast including Taree, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Kempsey, Nambucca Valley, Bellingen and Coffs Harbour, and into parts of the Hunter.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said on Wednesday that a further 100mm to 200mm of rainfall was expected in those areas which have already seen almost 50,000 people cut off by floodwaters.

Under the declaration, the ICA's preliminary catastrophe processes have been activated, assisting the trade body and insurers to assess the insurance impact of the current flood event.

The ICA said the event may be escalated to an “insurance catastrophe” if there is a significant increase in claim numbers or complexity, if the geographical spread of this event is extended or in consultation with insurers.

“This remains an unfolding weather event and insurers’ priority is community safety. We strongly encourage all those impacted to put their safety first and adhere to evacuation orders,” the body said in a statement on Wednesday.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said the unfolding weather situation in the region is already “breaking records”, with evacuation orders in place for many towns and more rain forecast for the coming days.

“While this significant event declaration is for those regions most impacted by flooding to date, we are closely monitoring the severe weather across the entire state,” said Hall, adding that these regions also experienced significant flooding in 2022.