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| Grafton NSW IMAGE: Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March 2022 |
The Daily Examiner online, 13 March 2021:
The words on the wooden sign have become a symbol of what the Tucabia couple say they’ve repeatedly faced with their insurer in an attempt to save the two-storey house they’ve owned for 30 years.
They’re one of many flood-hit families that have filled the nearby town of Grafton, with insurance delays causing them to keep extending their temporary accommodation.
All but one hotel in Grafton was running at capacity on Friday – with owners largely attributing that to an influx of emergency service workers and newly homeless flood victims from throughout the region.
The clean and tidy Quality Inn Grafton is a far cry from the horrid stench of Suzanne and David Larkin’s water-edge house some 20 minutes away, which was flooded in water half way up its second floor.
“It’s devastating, there’s no other way to put it,” Ms Larkin said.
“Everything is ruined.”
She said her free-range chickens were cramped in a tiny cage and her rescue dogs were traumatised.
“All that’s sentimental is gone,” she said.
She said most days she had spent hours on hold to her insurance company, AAMI, only to have to explain her situation to a new person each time.
That person kept pushing back the house assessment date, pushing the chances of her home being demolished higher each time.
She said AAMI had agreed to cover their temporary accommodation cost until March 30, but the couple expected they’d live in Grafton up to two more months.
“The government says it’ll give us a rental grant, but have you seen the market around here,” Ms Larkin said.
“Where are the houses?”
It appears they’re not alone.
Quality Inn Grafton owner Janelle Boekman said the majority of her rooms were full of homeless families from nearby towns seeking refuge, and a large portion of them complained of similar delays with insurance companies.
“It seems the companies are prioritising other areas and it’s got a lot of people upset, which is really hard to see,” Ms Boekman said.
Abbey Motor Inn Grafton manager Grant Cornish said he had been turning dozens of people away who were looking for temporary accommodation while waiting on insurers.
“This town is chockers – it could do with a few more hotels at the moment,” he said.
Although frustrating insurance delays were disrupting many lives, insurance expert from Compare the Market Steven Zeller said there was no simple solution.
“Insurers have been inundated with well above 80,000 claims across NSW and Queensland and it’s putting absolute pressure on them,” he said.
“They’re trying to get additional staff to help with the shortage and get assessors out, but they might be isolating due to Covid, there could be difficulty getting out to these areas, there are many reasons.”
Mr Zeller said there was a double whammy of a serious supply shortage that posed challenges for insurers trying to access building materials and tradesman.
“So even when an assessor gets out, you’re likely to experience a delay for several more months to have your property fixed,” he said.
“We’re all in a waiting game here.”
In terms of salvaging homes before it’s too late, Mr Zeller said people could take off damaged carpets and furniture to ease some dampness but could not go “knocking down walls” until the place was assessed.
Suncorp Group, which own AAMI insurance, said it has increased staff to help with the flood response in NSW and Queensland, where it had received more than 32,000 claims.
The most claims came from Lismore, Chinderah and Murwillumbah in NSW and Deagon, Aspley and Everton Park in Queensland.
Suncorp Group CEO Steve Johnston said it had created a new dedicated flood response and recovery team that relied on aerial imagery, real-time data and on the ground insights to direct the right support.
“We recognise the scale of this flooding emergency, and the devastating impact it has had on so many people and communities, many of whom are facing a long road to recovery,” Mr Johnston said.....
NSW flood emergency response scrutinised
AAP General News Wire, 13 March 2022:
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke says all aspects of the emergency services response to the flood crisis will be examined in an independent review.
An independent review of the NSW government's response to the state's flood crisis will determine what mistakes were made and what can be improved, the emergency services minister says.
"I think we can always do better next time," Step Cooke told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.
There are now 8000 Australian Defence Force personnel in NSW ensuring supplies reach communities that are still cut off by floodwaters, as well as helping with the massive clean-up operation.
However, there has been criticism of how long it took to deploy troops to help with the crisis and questions are being asked about who is to blame.
SES commissioner Carlene York has also faced questions about why civilian rescue helicopters were left grounded across the state as floodwaters inundated the Northern Rivers.
Ms Cooke says all aspects of the emergency services response will be examined, adding it's a complex issue.
The review will determine why it took so long to get troops on the ground in the Northern Rivers to help thousands of people whose homes were inundated with flood waters.
"The deployment of ADF troops is something that will be considered as part of that review," Ms Cooke said.
"If there are ways that we need to do things differently in the future to ensure that our communities have the maximum amount of notice to prepare and our response is timely and is where it is needed, when it is needed, then that is something that will benefit communities right across NSW."
Ms York says worse than forecast weather explained why civilian rescue helicopters were not called to help with the crisis.
Emergency crews were only expecting minor to moderate flooding in the region; less than had inundated the north coast last year.
"We resourced appropriately on those levels," Ms York said on Sunday.
Instead towns were hit with record floods, including in Lismore where waters were two metres above any event recorded.
Helicopters were meanwhile deployed to areas like Cooma, near the Snowy Mountains, to be on standby for floods that never arrived.
Ms York said the worst of the floods in the Northern Rivers had hit at night when rescue crews were restricted in what they could do.
Meanwhile, the SES has determined 3396 homes are uninhabitable and 6708 were inundated as 120 motor homes were last week on their way to the Northern Rivers to deal with a drastic shortage of accommodation as part of a $551 million housing support package…...
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