Reducing Risk from Floods
The 2023 Auckland floods cost in the ballpark of $4 billion. 15 died in the North Island weather events, 7.500 homes stickered and many more impacted, 10,000 cars were written off, and uncounted numbers of uninsured tenants lost all their stuff. On 24 March, as part of Ecofest, l led a panel with Professors Asaad Shamseldin and Jennifer Salmond of the University of Auckland, and Jon Rix, of Tonkin & Taylor to talk about risk, resilience and reimagining how we do things in the future.
We heard the human stories of being flooded out and working through the process of buy outs and starting again. We considered the problem of who will lead a strategy of retreat, who will pay to relocate people from homes at risk, and discovered some places had been repaired after flooding 36 times. Equity and affordability is prioritised in insurance premiums which means some people are paying too much for their homes, while others at high risk, are not paying enough – at least until council assessments can make a place uninsurable.
A number of recommendations came out of the evening:
1. Telling the stories of the North Island Weather Events of 2023 so that the social and financial impacts of the floods are not forgotten. A documentary was mooted.
2. Strong leadership from central and/or local government to lead adaptation. The insurance sector don’t want to lead this - and nor should they - but they will play a role.
3. Changes to planning regulations that prevent development on sites at risk. (These are being worked through with government but are not in place as yet).
4. Greater consideration of natural hazards with regard how we build homes,
5. A strategy for food security, to ensure there is sufficient farmland at low risk of hazards.
The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) commissioned a survey which "highlights strong public support for greater government investment in protecting people and properties from extreme weather events. Most respondents are in favour of stricter controls on where properties are built to reduce flood risk and see the Government as the primary leader in building national resilience."
A bill on National Adaptation is due this year - it can’t come soon enough.