Qld: Storm bill tops $1 billion

AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2009
Qld: Storm bill tops $1 billion

By Paul Osborne

BRISBANE, April 15 AAP - The bill for Queensland's six-month onslaught of cyclones
and storms is set to soar above $1 billion.

The storm season began in earnest in November, when southeast Queensland and areas
west of Brisbane were hit by massive winds and flooding rains.

A shell-shocked Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said at the time the worst-hit area of The
Gap looked like a "war zone", while Premier Anna Bligh likened it to Cyclone Larry, which
caused almost $1 billion in damage when it hit Innisfail, in the state's far north, in
March 2006.

In its latest estimate, the Insurance Council said at least 34,000 claims had been
made by southeast households, with a pricetag of $309 million.

In January and February, cyclones Charlotte and Ellie ravaged north Queensland.

Charlotte crossed the coast in the Gulf of Carpentaria on January 12 while Ellie crossed
near Mission Beach in the early hours of February 2.

The gulf communities of Normanton and Karumba were under water for weeks, while Townsville
and the north Queensland town of Ingham suffered the worst damage along the eastern coast.

Around $180 million in insurance claims have been lodged by north Queensland residents,
with the overall damage bill to homes and businesses estimated to be around three times
this.

In the gulf, the state and federal governments spent $1 million on fodder drops to
5,700 stranded cattle and offered low interest loans to farmers, as well as establishing
a task force to help cattlemen re-establish after the floods.

"While some areas will take longer to recover, much of the gulf is now looking magnificent
and we anticipate some productive years ahead," Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan says.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the latest bill for damage to infrastructure
and assistance payments had been assessed at $330 million.

The damage spanned 40 local government areas, across more than 60 per cent of the state.

"The vast majority - $314 million - of the estimated damage bill is the cost of restoring
damaged public infrastructure like roads and bridges that were damaged during the floods,"

Mr Roberts told AAP.

"The remainder is made up of assistance paid to residents who suffered personal hardship
and concessional loans and freight subsidies made available to primary producers and small
business owners."

Mr Roberts said the costs were being shared between the state and federal governments.

The most recent heavy rain on the Sunshine Coast, which worst affected the northern
end of the coast around Kin Kin and Noosa, caused $3.79 million in infrastructure damage,
Mr Roberts said.

The storms have also triggered an estimated $1 million in insurance claims.

A Suncorp insurance spokeswoman told AAP the past three years had been tough in terms
of the frequency of severe weather events and associated insurance claims.

AAP pjo/jpm

KEYWORD: STORMS QLD

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