Prepare for a Stormy Summer

A HOT summer is approaching,
with winter
ending with temperatures
in the high 30s – leading
to residents being urged
to prepare for a damaging
storm and bushfire season.
New data released by
the Insurance Council of
Australia last week shows
insured losses from declared
insurance catastrophes
grew from 0.2% of
GDP in the five years up to
2000, to 0.7% for the past
five years.
ICA CEO Andrew Hall
said that over the past 30
years, insurers had paid an
average of $2.1 billion per
year to customers impacted
by natural disasters.
“The number of claims
from events in the past
12 months was almost
157,000, 66,000 more
claims than the previous
period, showing that while
the average claim from
recent weather events was
lower, the impact was more
widespread,” Mr Hall said.
He said the costliestextreme weather event of
the past 12 months was
the Christmas storms that
impacted the Gold Coast
hinterland as well as areas
of New South Wales and
Victoria, which drove $1.33
billion in claims.
Local Ipswich News
spoke with members of the
public who said that in a
region like Ipswich prone
to damaging storms and
floods, the response from
the different levels of government
had been effective
in the past.
“Be prepared within
your own family,” said one
victim of the Springfield
storms.
“Know your neighbours
and check on them during
any weather event.
“Have a prepped storm
kit that includes a battery-
operated radio with
batteries, and small bottles
of water.
“If you are reliant on
prescription medication,
keep a week’s worth in your
storm kit.”
The State Government
has taken the impact of past
events into account when
planning the Queensland
State Recovery and Resilience
Plan, which reports
on disaster season recovery
progress and priorities.
The disaster season
from the past financial
year included 13 extreme
weather events affecting
66 of the state’s 77 Local
Government Areas, with the
plan designed to deliver a
roadmap of locally led initiatives
to build resilience
for better disaster recovery.
The 13 disaster events
destroyed 195 properties,
closed or restricted 15,740
kilometres of state-controlled
roads and cut power
to almost 250,000 homes,
while more than 38,300
Queenslanders were supported
by 62 Community
Recovery Hubs.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa
Harding said that, based on
current weather, residents
should take those steps to
be as prepared as council is.
“We seem to be skipping
spring all together with
some of the hottest August
days on record, and we all
need to ensure we are ready
for the pending summer
season,” Cr Harding said.
“We all have a role
to play in preparing for
emergencies and natural
disasters including floods,
fires and storms.
“I encourage everyone to
take steps now to understand
how your home may
be impacted, write down
an action plan, create an
emergency kit of essential
supplies, and prepare your
home through activities
such as clearing gutters and
pruning trees.
“Save council’s Ipswich
Disaster Dashboard to your
favourites list as it has current
disaster and emergency
information in Ipswich,
including road closures.