Counting the cost of Fehi
In the wake of ex-cyclone Fehi, I visited Westport to see firsthand some of the damage that occurred along the coastline.
We have all seen the images of destroyed roads, public infrastructure and properties made uninhabitable by seawater that will cost millions of dollars to repair.
Coastal erosion has long been an issue along certain areas of the affected regions, but Fehi, as we saw, caused a lot of irreversible destruction in a very short time frame.
Experts agree that such dramatic weather events are on the increase, sea levels are rising, and we can expect more of the same in the future.
While the Kaikoura Electorate largely escaped nature’s fury this time around, coastal erosion is a problem in a number of our areas including the Marlborough Sounds.
The reason I amwriting about it in this column because the resulting insurance claims from Fehi, which continue to mount, are something that will affect all New Zealanders.
The future potential for destruction of property due to coastal erosion, leading to more insurance claims, will impact on each and every insurance policy holder in this country because as a collective, everyone covers the cost.
New Zealand is one of the most heavily insured countries in the world; Kiwis love insurance.
But insurance is there for accidental and unexpected risk - it does not insure certainty, and it seems that coastal erosion and flooding is exactly that in some areas.
Some very serious discussions need to be had as a country about whether attempts to reduce risk, such as building sea walls, while continuing to place new developments in coastal areas, should continue.
It could well be time to move further inland, or face the real prospect that tens of thousands of coastal New Zealand homes could become ineligible for insurance.
It’s incumbent on councils and central Government to recognise this serious issue and make it a priority.
Until measures are put in place to prevent new properties and public infrastructure from being built in high risk places, people will continue to build and live there because, for now, it’s allowed.
This is not a future issue; this is an issue right now.