As flood-affected communities recover from the extreme weather event in Queensland and New South Wales (NSW), the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia (BoM) has warned Australians to brace themselves as more wild weather returns to eastern Australia.
The BoM forecasted rain and thunderstorms approaching eastern Australia, including those already devastated by the Queensland and NSW flooding.
On March 23 (Wednesday), the BoM said on Twitter that it expects showers and storms to affect eastern and northern NSW, with potentially severe thunderstorms across the Mid North Coast, Hunter, and Northern Rivers regions.
Weatherzone, a major commercial weather company providing meteorological services, released the same weather forecast on Twitter, adding that some areas are likely to see heavy rain enough to cause flooding.
“Widespread rain is likely to affect parts of eastern Australia during the coming week. Models are still figuring out where and how much rain will fall. At this stage, parts of Qld & NSW will be affected,” it said on Twitter.
According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), insurers had received 157,254 claims related to the recent catastrophic flooding in Queensland and NSW as of March 22, up by 2.3% from the previous day's numbers. Based on previous flood events, it estimated that the current cost of insurance claims has already hit $2.359 billion.
The ICA has called for all Australian governments to increase federal funding for extreme weather events to help at-risk homes and communities more resilient to floods, cyclones, and bushfires.
In its latest survey, the ICA found that two-thirds of Australians residing in communities affected by the recent devastating flooding in Queensland and NSW have backed the insurance industry's calls for investing in extreme weather resilience – with over 90% of those who want more investment urging the federal government to at least double the funding, while 57% said the government should spend whatever is required.
“Impacted communities clearly want state and federal governments to work together to solve this issue and see both levels of government equally responsible,” said ICA CEO Andrew Hall. “The community also clearly understands the folly of allowing development to take place on floodplains.”
