Residents of the tiny outback Queensland town, Thargomindah, say they're not sure how they'll be able to get back on their feet after the devastation of recent floods. Many were not insured after extreme price hikes which would have seen some annual premiums cost upwards of $20 thousand.
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00:00This was the first time Melinda Byrne saw her Thargaminda home.
00:06Sandbags that barricaded the doorway pulled away.
00:12And the destruction left in the wake of the water revealed.
00:16Puddles of mud pooled on her lounge room floor.
00:19And we've got photos.
00:23The scale of loss enormous.
00:26It had water almost a metre up through it for a week.
00:30It's just hard to explain and you think, yep, that's the worst it can be.
00:34But then you have a phone call with an insurance company saying that's as bad as it can get.
00:39Until recently, she'd always been covered for floods with her home insurance.
00:44That changed when she got a renewal notice.
00:47Her home insurance was increased to more than $30,000 a year.
00:52I actually rang them at the time and I said, I think you've made a typo on here.
00:56I said, you're actually charging me more a month than what my annual premium was.
01:01Around the town of Thargaminda, it's the same story.
01:05This hotel has suffered an estimated nearly $1 million worth of damage and lost business.
01:11Flood insurance would have cost them an extra $25,000 per year on top of their annual premium.
01:18Like most in town, they couldn't afford that.
01:22Even some council assets aren't flood insured.
01:25Well, it's too expensive. Full stop.
01:27Driving around Thargaminda, damage is evident on every corner, every street.
01:33These people here in this corner house lost everything.
01:35Only 12 homes were untouched by flood waters in this disaster.
01:40Many weren't insured for floods.
01:42The mayor calling for action, saying it's not fair.
01:45Yeah, it's rude.
01:46You know, they take us for all mugs because we live in the bush or what it is.
01:51But, you know, it's not right.
01:54You know, you're penalised for where you live virtually and that shouldn't be.
01:58The Insurance Council of Australia says worsening extreme weather is putting upward pressure on premiums across the country, calling for the creation of a flood defence fund to build disaster resilient infrastructure.
02:12The town's leaders fear if people can't afford to live there, they won't.
02:17If we lose them, well, we're not going to have the bush and we're not going to have what Australia stands for.
02:24That's, you know, we're sort of the last frontier here at the moment.