Data from Insurance Council of New Zealand — Te Kāhui Inihua o Aotearoa reveals 1920 private insurance claims across Otago have been lodged in relation to October’s deluge, totalling an estimated $33.8m.
States of emergency were declared in Dunedin and the Clutha district, the rain caused widespread flooding and slips and about 100 residents had to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night.
Following the 2015 Dunedin floods, almost 2500 domestic claims — costing about $28m — were made.
Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said he was surprised at the number and cost of claims compared to the 2015 floods.
"I expect that the dollar value of [the current] claims would be less if they were inflation-adjusted."
While October’s weather had brought more water, Dunedin’s stormwater systems had improved since 2015, he said.
"It worked better and got rid of water more quickly; however, there were still floods.
"That shows that the system is insufficient for the needs of South Dunedin," Mr Radich said.
Last month, the Dunedin City Council (DCC) agreed to include a $30m short-term plan to address South Dunedin flooding in the draft nine-year budget, and a further $15m for future medium-term work.
"Which should make a significant difference to the ability of our systems to remove water from South Dunedin catchment," Mr Radich said.
"I certainly hope that the public will support this short-term initiative to put some flood remediation in the ground."
The majority of claims were related to domestic losses — the 1669 domestic claims were equivalent to $28m.
The 116 commercial material damage claims totalled $4.5m, while the 23 claims lodged for business interruption and loss of profits cost $500,000.
Last week, council climate and city growth general manager Scott MacLean said council flood costs were $7.82m for transport alone.
A claim had been submitted to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for co-funding consideration and a decision was pending, he said.
Further details of the council’s flood costs were unavailable.
In January, a DCC spokesman said that, as of November 30, $2.25m had gone towards remedial works following the October floods.
In November, the Clutha District Council estimated flood damage to roads and infrastructure cost $1.5m.
