My house in Lismore had 4.5m water over ground level. That’s 2.5m inside the living area.
Well, flood insurance for my house in Lismore is $13000 premium per annum. That’s more than the annual rent. The sales pitch is it covers for flood. On questioning it covered for burnt out fixed electrical motors,only. Nothing else!!! Not structural damage, not for destruction of the house, not for restoration. Funnily enough I didn’t pay the premium.
I do have standard insurance $3500 per year. This is now invalid until the house has been restored from flooding. (I.e it’s got people living in it again)
The house cost $135,000.
The flood cover offered is not insurance. It’s a tax. Simply not affordable. It’s not an option for me as a landlord and certainly not for my tenants.
Now the important part, my house was built pre 1910 from second hand Timbers. It’s 2m off the ground. It’s all wood. Weatherboard walls, single skin timber internal walls, Power in from the roof and nothing built under the house. No gyprock anywhere. (This is intentional). There’s no insulation In The walls. There is darling and aircell in the cieling (not batts)
It’s a flood house and is made to get wet every now and then.
My flood recovery has taken 7 solid days, with 16 man days of effort. Not a single cent of govt assistance will come my in way. (As a landlord)
The house has been emptied of the tenants stuff. (Soooo much stuff - all gone to the bin because they weren’t prepared for a flood 2m higher than the mental ceiling got the highest flood in written history) we pressure washed the house inside, hosed it out the knot holes in the hoop pine floor. We Scrubbed the walls by hand with detergent and anti fungal potions. Threw out the carpets (never again to have carpets fixed down) and we’ve begun the bleaching and drying process.
Fans are running on a geni with a dehumidifier.
The house is now cleaner than it’s been since 1974. Moist, but soon to be dry.
In terms of capital cost, I bought a second hand oven and new hot water thermostat.
I replaced all power points and fan controls (precautionary approach for power stuff)
Electrical checks / replacements will cost $2000 or so.
I’ll need to repaint it some time but that’s overdue.
Total cost to me will be less than a single annual insurance premium. So clearly my story is not the common one.
Tenants will be back in within 3 weeks when it’s dry. They are very very keen not to be homeless!
Now I’d rather it didn’t happen , and it’s cost me a heap of stress, but contrast my story with the new build houses with plaster walls and pine studs and it’s a very different story. They are close to knock down and years off from being fixed.
I strongly believe we need to build for immersion or build floating houses. Floodplain towns won’t go away. They are real towns and we aren’t China - we won’t move whole towns. And we won’t force people to sell them at a loss - that will get politicians sacked and they don’t like that.
Floodplain living is a reality. We need to build to conditions and then have less stuff to get ruined.
