Homeowners 'should sue' for flood damage

By JAMES GARDINER

Local authorities have been accused of keeping people in the dark about the susceptibility of their properties to flooding.

Waikato University geographer professor Neil Ericksen said councils as well as property owners themselves were inclined to ignore information about previous flooding.

Professor Ericksen, director of the university's international global change institute, said it surprised him that more property owners affected by flooding did not sue councils for failing to inform them of the dangers.

He did not think floods were getting worse, but the size of the areas affected and duration of the bad weather were unusual.

Higher stopbanks led to more intensive land use in the protected areas, leading to more damage when the defences were breached.

He said if he was living in a newer house that had been flooded he would sue the council.

"By and large councillors are for growth and development. A lot of owners don't want to know either. They'll argue with councils to build new places in areas that are flood-prone."

Local authorities calculated where the water would go and how deep it would be.

"Over here we hide the damn maps away in the bottom drawer of the council."

That put the onus on property buyers to approach the local council and demand to know whether the land was flood-prone.

Local Government NZ environment manager John Hutchings said he believed all councils did enough to warn property owners of flood risks.

"No one can plan for an event like this."


FLOODING CLAIMS

Southland floods 1984 - $103 million

Canterbury storms 1975 - $52 million

Cyclone Bola 1988 - $52 million

Otago floods 1978 - $50 million

Queenstown floods 1999 - $46 million

Wahine storm 1968 - $42 million (excluding cost of the Wahine)

Wellington / Hutt Valley floods 1976 - $40 million

North Island flooding 2002 - $21 million

Greymouth floods 1988 - $19 million

Hastings hailstorm 1994 - $12 million