The damage bill from Cyclone Marcus has hit $84.4 million and is expected to increase as costs continue to mount.
The Category 2 cyclone landed on Darwin last month — cutting power to thousands of homes and felling hundreds of trees. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has indicated insurance claims from private and commercial properties have touched $58.9 million. The figure comes from 6377 claims that range from damage to pergolas, cars and roofs. The government earlier this week revealed its estimated bill was $25.5 million but the Sunday Territorian has revealed the total cost when public insurance claims are added is over $85 million.
Insurance Council of Australia’s Campbell Fuller said most claims were from damage caused by falling trees. “The insurance bill from the cyclone reflects the more robust approach the NT has taken to its buildings and that’s through the Deemed to Comply Manual.” “Without this strong building guideline the damage in Darwin would have been significantly larger. “What we’ve seen is that since Cyclone Tracy, Darwin in particular, has led the country in insuring the construction and designs are strong enough to survive cyclones.” A spokeswoman from the Department of the Chief Minister said the $25.5 million included the damage and clean- up bill to public assets. “It is an early estimate of the total cost of cleaning up and repairing damage, and assisting those who experienced hardship,” she said.
