Deloitte Report estimates $7.7 billion cost from the floods

An independent Deloitte Report into this year’s South East Queensland floods has revealed an estimated total cost of $7.7 billion to Queensland.

Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for the Queensland Reconstruction Authority Steven Miles said the Deloitte Report considered the social, financial and economic costs of the 2022 South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding Event that hit 23 local government areas

“The key findings of this report highlight the sheer extent of the damage caused by these floods,” Mr Miles said.

“Deloitte has taken a broad range of factors into consideration including human and social impacts; damage to residential, commercial and public infrastructure as well as industry disruption; emergency response and clean-up and environmental factors.

“The report estimates more than 500,000 people were affected by the floods in some way with an estimated human and social cost of $4.5 billion.

“The impact to homes and commercial businesses has been estimated at $2 billion with approximately 18,000 homes or businesses impacted. 

“Of that, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) reported more than 97,000 residential and commercial claims had been lodged with a total value of $1.36 billion leaving approximately $646 million in uninsured residential and commercial losses.

“The economic impact on Queensland small businesses was significant with more than 4500 affected and total damage of approximately $324 million.

“The floods also had a major impact on Queensland’s agricultural sector with more than 2250 primary producers affected across 17 local government areas at the time of the report with losses estimated to be more than $250 million.

“You only need to look at the price of lettuce in our supermarkets to understand the impact this far-reaching, long-lasting event had on our farmers with many of them either losing their crops or losing the capacity to manage their crops.”

The Queensland Government commissioned this report which builds on the prior body of knowledge and experience following a similar report commissioned after the 2019 North and Far North Queensland Monsoon Trough event.

Mr Miles said the report used information collected from government agencies in the first two months following the disaster in conjunction with data from agencies like the ICA and Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“The South East Queensland rainfall and flooding event caused heavy rainfall and major flooding from Gladstone to the Gold Coast and west to Balonne,” he said.

“Gympie had its worst flooding event since 1893 with the Mary River peaking at 23 metres and the subsequent flooding forcing more than 460 residents staying in evacuation centres.

“Ipswich received more than 680 millimetres of rain over four days leaving widespread damage with some 500 homes and 300 businesses affected.  The Lockyer Valley faced inundation again while the extensive damage sustained in many parts of Brisbane has been well documented including to homes, businesses and infrastructure.

“The Deloitte Report coincides with the release of the State Recovery and Resilience Plan 2022, which details the recovery efforts to date and the longer-term plan for recovery of our state.

“The human, social, environmental and economic impact from this event is of great significance and in the true Queensland way, we will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with local governments and communities on the road to recovery,” he said.

The Deloitte Report can be found at http://www.qra.qld.gov.au/2021-22-Southern-Queensland-Floods

ENDS

Media contact: Amy Hunter 0423 651 484