Operation On Par With Earthquake
Newcastle Herald
Tuesday June 12, 2007
INTERSTATE assessors will help process the high volume of insurance claims following severe storms that lashed the region last weekend.
NRMA Insurance reported almost 3000 claims across Newcastle alone and the number is expected to rise today as people return to their homes and work after the long weekend.Hamilton and New Lambton were the worst hit suburbs among NRMA customers, with 338 and 336 claims respectively.Insurance company CGU said yesterday it had received 1100 claims from customers affected by the severe storms, flooding and torrential rain that battered Newcastle and the Hunter. The majority of claims received were for water damage to homes and cars.Many people affected by the storms had been without power and access to phones and it would be some days before the extent of the claims was known, CGU NSW claims manager Paul Griffin said.Mobile assistance centres have been set up outside the Newcastle Jockey Club, Broadmeadow, and Charlestown Bowling Club for people who are unable to make contact by phone.NRMA operations manager Suzanne Jolliffe said the operation was almost on par with the response to the Newcastle earthquake of 1989."We had a larger volume of claims of longer period in the quake but this storm is far more widespread," Ms Jolliffe said.Water entry, tree damage, stray garden furniture that became projectiles were the source of most of the claims on homes, she said.But Eleebana resident Milan Markovic will have to foot the bill of a landslide that caused significant damage to his backyard.Mr Markovic was covered through NRMA Insurance for storm damage, but he said an assessor told him the policy did not cover landslides."They won't pay; it's very unfair," Mr Markovic, of Abney Close, said. "The storm caused the landslide."NRMA Insurance was unavailable to comment on the case yesterday.Water gushing down a steep hill from a house above Mr Markovic's property led to the landslide, which tore apart his fence and spread debris over his backyard.The deluge flooded the lower level of his house.Mr Markovic said that the area had no stormwater system to channel water away from properties.Another landslide in Ealing Crescent, Fishing Point, left 29-year-old Matthew Oldham thanking his lucky stars.Mr Oldham heard what sounded like a "tidal wave" when he took his dogs outside on Friday night.He stepped inside for a moment, before returning with a torch to see a landslide down the back of his house near where he had been standing.Gushing water caused a terraced walkway in his backyard to collapse, sending tonnes of mud into a house below.The owners of the house were overseas, unaware of the damage to their property.Matthew's father, John Oldham, said he believed a backed-up stormwater drain caused the incident.Meanwhile fears that a water-logged embankment at Teralba would collapse and flood houses and the railway line were allayed yesterday when authorities stabilised the bank and pumped away the water.
© 2007 Newcastle Herald