$100m bill for storm havoc

By ANN BESTON and NZPA

The estimated cost of the extreme storm that has battered New Zealand has doubled to $100 million.

And the Insurance Council says up to a quarter of homeowners are likely to be uninsured.

Council chief executive Chris Ryan said that had "serious implications" for stricken towns as they start rebuilding after devastation caused by flooding.

Earlier, the council put the damage estimate at $50 million.

"We didn't want to overstate it, but with major infrastructure damage and losses from the big agricultural companies the costs are going to be fairly large," Mr Ryan said.

Non-insurance was a problem for everyone, but smaller provincial towns were likely to have lower insurance rates than cities, he said.

That was a "socio-economic" issue as houses often passed from one generation to the next without mortgages, which meant banks were not insisting on insurance.

Between 25 and 40 per cent of homes affected by the storm are likely to be uninsured, the council believes.

Mr Ryan said premiums were unlikely to rise overall as a result, although residents who had been flooded out for the second or third time could find companies unwilling to offer insurance.

Residents in flood-stricken areas yesterday began to assess damage from the one-in-40-year storm.

In Picton, a new emergency developed when 500 residents were evacuated because of fears that a dam would burst.


The Marlborough District Council declared a state of civil emergency because of the threat of the Barnes Dam in Essons Valley collapsing.

Earlier yesterday, about 40mm of rain fell in 40 minutes in Picton, causing flash flooding. Sewage leaked into the town's streets and harbour as a result of the flood.

Marlborough district civil defence spokesman Steve Jones said the Barnes Dam had been overflowing all morning.

"It's chocka with water and logs and all sorts of debris, and more water and more logs are still flowing into it."

Fears that the dam, which is 4.5km from Picton and 455m above sea level, would collapse eased last night.

Promised grants to mayoral relief funds from the Government were criticised yesterday.

National's Rangitikei MP, Simon Power, said the initial $20,000 grants to his region and Manawatu were "pathetic".

But Civil Defence Minister George Hawkins said more money would be given once it was known what was needed.

The flood-affected areas would get help once civil emergencies were over.

"Obviously, those areas will need help," Mr Hawkins said. "They will get help."

About 5000 homes in the lower North Island are still without full phone services.

Telecom said yesterday staff were working to restore services in Manawatu, Rangitikei and Horowhenua.


Progress was being hampered by continued flooding, which was creating difficulty for staff in gaining access to repair sites.

In Horowhenua, the Manawatu River breached its banks south of Foxton, 39km southwest of Palmerston North, inundating farmland and forcing the evacuation of about 50 people from a number of homes.

The areas most in danger of further flooding were Foxton Beach and parts of Foxton township near the Manawatu River.

Police yesterday advised people trapped by the flood waters to place white sheets on top of their houses where they could be seen from helicopters.

Officers said the measure was necessary because phone contact in much of Manawatu and Horowhenua had been knocked out by the storm.

Flood waters were beginning to recede yesterday, but other problems were emerging.

These included loss of phone lines and safe drinking water.

Civil defence co-ordinators called in watertankers to help alleviate the problem.

Access by road was still impossible in many areas because of high water and washed-out bridges, and schools in Bulls, Marton, Hunterville and surrounding rural areas remained closed.

Thousands of North Island homes were without power as lines company Powerco struggled to fix problems in Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu and Wairarapa.

Roads were closed in many parts of the Lower North Island, but most roads in the Wellington region had been reopened.

Interisland ferries, which stopped sailing across Cook Strait on Monday, were sailing again.

Interisland Line marketing and sales manager Peter Monk said sailings had cleared a backlog of ferry passengers by yesterday morning.

Stormy weather, stunning bills

1968: The Wahine storm causes $120 million worth of damage.

1976: Severe Wellington floods cost insurers the equivalent of $45 million.

1988: Cyclone Bola, $52 million.

2002: Weather bomb, $21 million.

2004: Cyclone Heta tears up Niue, causing up to $35 million worth of damage.

Source: Insurance Council (all figures inflation adjusted).

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