Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest insurer says 20,000 homes across the country are at severe risk of flooding and it is in talks with government about where flood-damaged houses should be written off for good.

IAG is part of an advisory panel that is helping the government with managed retreat legislation.

Those in regions hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, who want to walk away from their flood-damaged homes, need answers, among them Peter Johnstone.

• READ MORE: Other Cyclone Gabrielle reports

He stood on the roof of his house the night Pakowhai flooded, and felt creaking and groaning and feared the roof would collapse. Two weeks on, he was shocked to learn the insurer planned to fix his home.

“The people that are there to assess are sort of saying, ‘Oh no, this is rebuild, this is a refix’, refix is the word they’re using,” he said.

“I said, ‘You be kidding me, the whole bloody lot could be condemned, Pakowhai should be condemned’. Every house in Pakowhai is munted.”

He is 75 and together with his wife has lived on the four hectares for three decades.

‘Daunting for me’
“It’s just daunting for me — I’m not scared of hard work but it’s daunting for me. How on earth will I get that place back up?”

They want out and have commissioned an independent engineer to determine if the yellow-stickered home is, in fact, a write-off.

Also in Pakowhai, Keith Gore and his wife live between the two rivers and also want out. An assessor visited this week.

“The assessor is out of Christchurch and he’s been in the game for 43 years,” Gore said.

“He did the Christchurch earthquake, floods at Taeri, floods at Greymouth and one other, and when he walked in our house he said: ‘This is the worst I’ve ever seen’.”

He was not impressed that the insurer wanted to scope costs to rebuild the silt-ridden house.

RNZ talked to three different councils in the East Coast — none would say which areas should be vacated for good.

Quick decisions needed
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said on Sunday decisions need to be made quickly on whether some places should be rebuilt the way they were — before money and resources were wasted in areas that would need to be abandoned.

IAG chief executive Amanda Whiting said the insurer had maps of areas at high risk of flooding, and was sharing these with officials.

“They vary and we’ve got to do a bit more mapping yet because we’ll have to agree on the parameters that deem those high flood risk zones. But we do have a lot of that mapping available and we’ll share that with government and other stakeholders,” she said.

IAG’s modelling shows 1 percent of homes — around 20,000 around the country — are at risk of severe flooding.

Until there was certainty over areas for managed retreat, Whiting said homeowners caught in limbo should let their insurer know if they want to relocate.

“Talk to us. As we start to get a bit of a sense of those people who are wanting to retreat that will help us with the government on a plan.”

In central Hawke’s Bay, around 200 homes flooded in Waipawa on the night of the cyclone.

Bryce Fergusson was among locals who ran to safety when the river’s stopbank overflowed. Even so, he wanted to rebuild.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll be in hot demand living up on the hill now but we love our land. We’re really hoping this is a once in a lifetime experience.”

Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Alex Walker said there was no urgency to relocate entire communities in Waipawa.

“There’s not a clear locality within central Hawke’s Bay district where we would be talking about urgent withdrawal of property but there might be some isolated pockets of one or two properties where there is a requirement for that conversation about where and how people may rebuild.”

Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said residents were already making decisions about whether to stay or go, and needed certainty — especially those in 680 yellow-stickered homes.

“We pretty quickly need to sit down with our affected communities, government, insurance council and banks and work out what this process will look like to give them some certainty about next steps and a timeframe.”

Up the coast, Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said it would likely to take time, and Māori landowners needed to be consulted.

“We’re talking about people who are deeply ingrained, who have whakapapa here.

“So it’s not a matter of simply, you know, redesigning and rebuilding and relocating. It’s a long journey that we need to work closely with our hapū and iwi on.”

For those in limbo like Peter Johnstone, it was a waiting game.

“I’m really worried about what’s around the corner, what do we accept. The government should be saying this is worse than an insurance problem, this is a major and we don’t want that little town to be there any longer.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Hundreds of people in Nelson in Aotearoa New Zealand’s South Island spent the night out of their homes and a state of emergency was declared after the Maitai River burst its banks.

Occupants of 233 homes near the Maitai River were evacuated and cordons put in place at Tasman and Nile Streets.

Soldiers have been patrolling the streets to keep an eye on evacuated properties and all residents are being asked to stay home if possible.

• READ MORE: Building in flood-prone locations needs to stop, insurer IAG says
• Follow RNZ’s state of emergency live blog

The country’s largest insurer, AIG, said building in flood-prone areas had to stop.

IAG has released a three-part plan to try speed up efforts to reduce flood risk from rivers.

It said climate change was having an enormous impact on the insurance sector, and there needed to be simple, practical, concrete actions quickly.

IAG has released a three-part plan to try speed up efforts to reduce flood risk from rivers.

There have been 10 major floods in the past two years with total insured losses of about $400 million, while the wider economic and social costs extend into the billions.

People in 160 homes in low-lying parts of Westport were been asked to leave so they would not have to be rescued if their homes were flooded.

On the West Coast, the Buller River levels are dropping but civil defence remains on alert with more rain forecast.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Evacuated Nelson residents wait to discover extent of flood damage https://t.co/wTXwBuWJor

— RNZ News (@rnz_news) August 17, 2022

From Brisbane to Sydney, many thousands of Australians have been reliving a devastating experience they hoped — in 2021, 2020, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012 or 2010/11 — would never happen to them again.

For some suburbs built on the flood plains of the Nepean River in western Sydney, for example, these floods are their third in two years.

Flooding is a part of life in parts of Australia. But as climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of floods, fires and other disasters, and recovery costs soar, two big questions arise.

• READ MORE: After the floods comes underinsurance: we need a better plan
• You can’t talk about disaster risk reduction without talking about inequality

As a society, should we be setting up individuals and families for ruin by allowing them to build back in areas where they can’t afford insurance? And is it fair for taxpayers to carry the huge burden of paying for future rescue and relief costs?

Considering ‘managed retreat’
Doing something about escalating disaster risks require multiple responses. One is making insurance as cheap as possible.

Another is investing in mitigation infrastructure, such as flood levees. Yet another is about making buildings more disaster-resistant.

The temporary levee in Maryborough that’s prevented much of the CBD from being inundated. Floodwaters are slowly dropping @abcnews pic.twitter.com/Vpxccl1Ej7

— Johanna Marie (@JohannaMarie_) March 1, 2022

The most controversial response is the policy of “managed retreat” — abandoning buildings in high-risk areas.

In Australia this policy has been mostly discussed as something to consider some time in the future, and mostly for coastal communities, for homes that can’t be saved from rising sea levels and storm surges.

It’s a sensitive subject because it uproots families, potentially hollows outs communities and also affects house prices — an unsettling prospect when economic security is tied to home ownership.

But managed retreat may also be better than the chaotic consequences of letting the market alone try to work out the risks to individuals and communities.

Grand Forks: a case study
The strategy is already being implemented in parts of western Europe and North America. An example from Canada is the town of Grand Forks, a community of about 4000 people 300 kilometres east of Vancouver.

The town is located where two rivers meet. In May 2018 it experienced its worst flooding in seven decades, after days of extreme rain attributed to higher than normal winter snowfall melting quickly in hotter spring temperatures.

Deforestation has been blamed for exacerbating the flood.

The flood damaged about 500 buildings in Grand Forks, with lowest-income neighbourhoods in low-lying areas the worst-affected.

In the aftermath, the local council received C$53 million from the federal and provincial governments for flood mitigation. This included work to reinforce river banks and build dikes. About a quarter of the money was allocated to acquire about 80 homes in the most flood-prone areas.

The decision to demolish these homes — about 5 percent of the town’s housing — and return the area to flood plain has been contentious.

Some residents simply didn’t want to sell. Adding to the pain was owners being paid the post-flood market value of their homes (saving the council about C$6 million). There were also long delays, with residents stuck in limbo for more than year while authorities finalised transactions.

A sensitive subject
Grand Forks shares similarities to Lismore, the epicentre of the disaster affecting northern NSW and southern Queensland.

Lismore is also built on a flood plain where two rivers meet. Floods are a regular occurrence, with the last major disaster being in 2017. Insuring properties in town’s most flood-prone areas was already unaffordable for some. In the future it may be impossible.

Last week, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said about 2000 of the town’s 19,000 homes would need to be demolished and rebuilt, a statement the local council general manager downplayed, saying in the majority of cases “people will not have to worry”.

For a community traumatised by loss, overwhelmed by the recovery effort and angry at the perceived tardiness of government relief efforts, discussing any form of managed retreat is naturally emotionally charged.

But there is never an ideal time to talk about bulldozing homes and relocating households.

Uprooting communities
Managed retreat has far-reaching financial ramifications. As in Grand Forks, the first questions are what homes are targeted, who pays, and how much.

Some residents may be grateful to sell up and move to safe ground. Others may not, disputing the valuation offered or being reluctant to leave at any price.

Managed retreat policies also affect many more than just those whose homes are being acquired. Demolishing a block or suburb can push down values in neighbouring areas, due to fears these homes may be next. Those households are also customers for local businesses. Their loss can potentially send a town economy into decline.

No wonder many people want no mention of managed retreat in their communities.

Pricing in climate change
Markets, however, are already starting to “price in” rising climate risks.

Insurance premiums are going up. The value of homes in high-risk areas will drop as buyers look elsewhere, particularly in the wake of increasingly frequent disasters.

The economic fallout, both for individual households and local communities, could be disastrous.

The Reserve Bank of Australia warned in September 2021 that climate-related disasters could rapidly drive house prices down, particularly in areas that have previously experienced rapid house price growth.

These disasters are also amplifying inequality, with poorer households more likely to live in high-risk locations and also to be uninsured.

In Lismore, for example, more than 80 percent of households flooded in 2017 were in the lowest 20 percent of incomes. These trends will intensify as growing climate risks translate into higher insurance premiums and lower house prices.

A deliberate strategy of managed retreat, though distressing and difficult, can help to minimise the upheaval in housing markets as climate risks become increasingly apparent.

We can do better than leaving the most socially and economically vulnerable households to live in high-risk areas, while those with enough money can move away to better, safer futures. Managed retreat can play a key role.

Dr Antonia Settle is an academic and McKenzie postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Fiji police have warned that any attempts to destabilise and cause instability will be investigated and dealt with, reports The Fiji Times.

The warning came from Acting Commissioner Police Rusiate Tudravu yesterday in the wake of two major fires in Ba and Raiwai at the weekend.

He claimed some Fijians were quick to use the two fires to incite violence and rally more support against the government, claiming they were linked.

• READ MORE: Fiji police, fire agency jointly probe two separate urban fires

He said people instigating movements of violence and instability from overseas or hiding behind “fake profiles” on social media were selfish and self-centred because any acts of violence would only lead to more suffering.

The fires destroyed the Central Arcade in Ba and Tappoos warehouse in Raiwai, Suva, on Sunday night.

Talebula Kate of The Fiji Times reports that the Ba blaze is a major loss to the affected businesses during these challenging times.

Museum, town hall undamaged
Minister of Local Government Premila Kumar said the National Fire Authority (NFA) fire-fighters were quite responsive and managed to save the museum and town hall.

“There has been no damage to these facilities. Despite the windy weather conditions, the quick and efficient effort by our NFA team is appreciated,” she said.

“The outstanding continuous work by our firefighters is commendable, as the impact of the fire could have been extremely detrimental.

“Unfortunately, the cause of the fire is still unknown at this stage and the cost of the damage is yet to be determined.

“Out of the eight shops in the arcade, six shops had tenants and were occupied.

“The arcade accommodated a fish store, a saloon/billiard room, a second hand clothing store, an electrical appliance shop, and two restaurants.”

Eight market vendors were also housed at the arcade.

Handicraft vendors
“These vendors were situated at the SME Market at the arcade and were selling curios and handicraft for their livelihood,” the minister said.

“It is rather disturbing to note that all their stock was destroyed by the fire.

“The number of fires in the country is alarming and becoming a concern. As per the statistics from NFA, there have been 57 fire incidents from 1 January to 1 August 2021,” Kumar vsaid.

“Fifty five were residential fire incidents and two were commercial fires, including [Sunday]’s incident. Sadly, there have been four deaths in the residential fire incidents so far this year; three in Nadi and one at Tacirua.

“We would like to reiterate that we need to be responsible and keep our homes and commercial properties fire-safe at all times,” the minister said.

The Ba Central Arcade Building was a 17-year-old structure and was insured after a valuation of the properties carried out in 2020.

Nevertheless, the Ba Town Council has a loan of approximately F$1.6 million (NZ$1.1 million), which needs to be paid off.

The council has been directed to work on practicable strategies to pay off the exorbitant amount of loan considering the difficult times we are in right now.

Republished with permission.

A leading New Zealand newspaper has branded the knife-edge US presidential election as a “nightmare” scenario in response to fears of civil disorder and a tarnished global image.

“The very face of the American consumerism was forced to mask up,” said The New Zealand Herald today as the nation “hunkered down and waited for the new President to be elected”.

“Crews arrived on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, armed with sheets of plywood to board up each of the 70 boutiques and properties lining the high-end retain strip.”

• READ MORE: Al Jazeera live updates – Biden wins more votes than any US candidate in history
• US vote too close to call as Trump falsely claims victory
• Ilhan Omar easily wins reelection to the House of Representatives

A similar scene was playing out across the US on anticipation of strife, as former Vice-President Joe Biden held a narrow lead as the final result deopended on six crucial battleground states.

“At the time this edition went to press, it was too close to call with incumbent Donald Trump defying predictions to put in a strong showing,” the newspaper editorial said.

“US retailers hard hit by the covid-19 pandemic have already been hammered by public disorder peaking after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis which fuelled protests, some violent, across the country.

“US businesses have suffered property damage and theft worth an estimated US$1 billion in insured losses this year, according to conservative estimates from the Insurance Information Institute, making this year’s protests “the costliest civil disorder in US history”.

Display guns and ammunition removed
“A week before the election, Walmart removed all guns and amunition from display, fearing that items would be targeted by frustrated supporters of the losing candidate.”

The Herald said the election was largely a referendum on Trump’s “handling of the virus”. However, while Trump had insisted the nation was “rounding the turn”on the virus, Dr Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, had this week joined “a chorus of Trump administration scientists sounding the alarm about the current spike in infections”.

President Trump has overseen the pandemic in the US “reaching world record numbers – 9.42 million cases and still climbing”.

Outgoing US Ambassador to New Zealand Scott Brown said that no matter who won the US election, it would have no impact on Washington’s relationship with Wellington.

If you just woke up, here’s a recap of the US #Election2020 results so far https://t.co/UOESbTBEZh

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) November 4, 2020

The Herald reported that Brown had said at the US Embassy’s election day party, his country had an “amazing” democracy.

“It may not be pretty, but it’s definitely vibrant,” Brown said.

Herald political columnist Audrey Young called on reelected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to “take charge” of New Zealand’s relationship following former Foreign Minister Winston Peters who had managed this role in the last term.

On Al Jazeera’s Inside Story programme last night, presenter Imran Khan asked could the US global reputation be repaired?

The tight race for the US presidency was matched by falling global trust in American leadership.

Americans and much of the world were waiting nervously to see whether Biden would be the next US president or Donald Trump extend his stay at the White House.

The US president is often regarded as the most powerful person in the world.

Changes in American foreign policy could benefit or hurt millions of people.

Trump has upended diplomacy in the past four years while Biden has promised to restore some of those ties.

• Watch the Inside Story programme