Evacuation From Flood

Imagine receiving a Notice To Evacuate your home or business because a dam some 4 kilometres away containing 6,000 megalitres of water was leaking and may burst. No, this is not, New Orleans in the United States, nor is it Holland. It happened in the small town of Tunbridge (population 100) located in the Midlands Region of Tasmania, Australia.

Construction of the $2m dam had recently been completed. It was built on the Blackman River between Launceston and Hobart and was designed for irrigation purposes. News reports indicated the dam was financed by local farmers.

On Thursday 13th October 2005 significant seepage was observed from cracks in the earth dam 6 to 10m below crest level. This was some 2 to 6m below the reservoir level. The seepage increased by some 30 times the initial flow within 24 hours.

On Friday 14th October 2005 the police issued evacuation notices to the residents of Tunbridge. Some 60 residents chose to remain while the balance were accommodated in an evacuation centre in the nearby town of Oatlands.

An emergency spillway was constructed and storage levels were reduced to 50% capacity. This reduced the seepage and fortunately property at Tunbridge remained unharmed.

If the outcome had been different and commercial property was destroyed would it be covered by insurance?

The Mark IV Industrial Special Risks policy contains a number of exclusions. Perils exclusion 2 removes cover for "physical loss, destruction or damage occasioned by or happening through flood, which shall mean the inundation of normally dry land by water overflowing from ….. any…..dam….."

Thank goodness the residents of Tunbridge remained high and dry.

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Author

Published with permission of Claim Solutions Pty Ltd.

Insurance Policy

Country: - Australia

Policy Description: - Mark IV Industrial Special Risks (ISR) policy

Insurer: - Various

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