Assessors are still to provide final figures but at this stage damage to Wanganui District Council's road network and infrastructure from June's weather bomb has reached $34 million.
But the council has been warned by one of its risk analysts that council - and ultimately the ratepayers - will likely to be shouldering "significant costs".
Dion Walker told this week's council meeting that insurance assessors were still looking at the losses incurred and the final costs will not be known for several weeks but he said they will be substantial.
However, the council was working up a report bound for Government outlining the extent of the damage in an effort to get more funding to minimise the eventual impact on rates. Initial high level estimates of the damage left by the June 20 to 21 floods and heavy rains reckon the district's roads sustained $24 million worth of damage. Based on the current NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) funding ratios, the first $1 million would be subsidised at 64 per cent and the remainder at 84 per cent. That means the balance - $4 million - will have to be met by council.
And there has been a further $10 million in damage to the city and "three waters" network (drinking water, stormwater and wastewater). Mr Walker said 40 per cent would be covered by council insurers and the rest from central government. But he said council should be aware that some costs, such as removing silt from the infrastructure may not meet Government criteria and would then fall back on the council.
ACE Insurance Ltd and Lloyds of London were the council's lead insurers and they had appointed assessors Godfreys to oversee the claims council was making on their behalf. Council also had its own brokers (Aon NZ) working with council staff to ensure the council got the best funding it could.
Mr Walker said the flood event has left council facing unbudgeted costs and only when final figures are available will it be able to see the impact on its 10-Year Plan.
Mayor Annette Main said council would also be making a case to NZTA to get funding for road repairs based on funding levels that were in place last year, rather than the new - and lower levels - that came into effect a matter of days after the floods.
Ms Main acknowledged it would probably be a tough argument to win.
She said an estimated $10 million in damage to the Whanganui River Rd accounted for nearly half the total bill for road damage across the district but said a special case could be made to get 100 per cent subsidy because of the road's importance not only to farming but also tourism.
Mr Walker said early estimates of losses for land and building and "business interruption" could be as high as $5 million with the bulk of it - up to $4 million - classified as business interruption costs. He said council was trying to get the massive clean-up at Kowhai Park accepted under the business interruption category and that was why the figure was high. "The council is working with Aon to determine what damage to parks, such as silt removal, may be able to form part of the council's insurance claim. However, it's likely much of this cost will not be covered."