The North Island floods had barely subsided when Cyclone Gabrielle arrived, prompting a declaration of a national state of emergency from the government for only the third time in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history.
Amanda Whiting, CEO for AMI, State, and NZI, called the two national catastrophes striking in quick succession ‘heart-breaking’ and ‘hugely disruptive for all those affected’.
“These weather events are what we plan for and what we do – it’s why we exist,” Whiting said. “We are working our way through the flooding claims as quickly as possible, while also processing claims from those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. As always, our number one focus is supporting our customers and communities through this really tough time.
“Some claims will be settled quickly, if not already, but some will take time as each customer’s situation is unique. But no matter how long it takes, we will be here for our customers.”
Whiting also pointed out that severe weather events such as those still devastating the North Island and nearby regions will put significant pressure not just on customers but the building industry and associated suppliers, who will be relied upon to recover key structures and homes. Whiting said AMI, State, and NZI were working with their partners to support the building and supply industries.
“The size and scale of these events are something we haven’t seen since the Kaikoura earthquakes,” Whiting said. “We have pulled in help from right across our business – we currently have 316 teams of builders on the ground stripping out homes, and we are focussed on expediting the claims process and closing claims for our customers as soon as we possibly can.”
AMI, State, and NZI meteorologist Bruce Buckley said that what the North Island went through this year was a ‘classic example’ of warmer tropical seas feeding greater quantities of moisture into extremely damaging, heavy rainbands.
He said the country’s physical location naturally made it susceptible to tropical moisture-influenced systems, but that this vulnerability was exacerbated by the effects of climate change and current La Niña patterns.
“New Zealand will become more susceptible to stronger storms, because having warmer, more tropical seas means there’s less opportunity for the systems to weaken before reaching New Zealand,” Buckley said.
Whiting herself visited a few affected customers’ properties last week. While the damage left behind to people’s lives had been hard to see, the CEO said she had also been “heartened to hear the many stories of community resilience”.
“Our team is working extremely hard to support our customers and will continue to do so until every last claim is closed,” she said.
