Australian floods send insurance premiums soaring
Gaining accurate knowledge of at-risk areas can help future planning and location-appropriate construction, leading to more resilient, safer communities.
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As hydrology reports uncover increasing flood risks, Australian home insurance premiums are soaring, making cover practically unattainable for many residents in flood-prone areas such as Thargominda which was inundated when the town’s levee broke under pressure from rising floodwaters.
Nearmap ImpactResponse: ready for action
On Friday 28th March 2025, the Nearmap Geospatial Content Survey Operations (GCO) team began tracking the floodwaters that were spreading across South West Queensland.
Heavy rain was expected to start clearing from Sunday 30th March. Taking into consideration the remote location of the areas impacted and the travel distances required, the GCO team began planning flights, organising fuel and managing airspace logistics to ensure that Nearmap ImpactResponse captures could cover areas that had been significantly impacted by flooding.
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Flood impact captured and published within days
By Monday 31st March, Nearmap had captured imagery in Windorah and Jundah, completing the remainder of flights to publish ready-to-use post-catastrophe imagery in MapBrowser on Tuesday 1st April 2025 covering Thargominda, Quilpie, Autumnvale, Adavale, Hungerford, Homeburn and Caiwarro. Farnham Plains was surveyed on Thursday 3rd April, published on MapBrowser the next day.
Severe weather events are increasing across the country, their devastation evident in the aftermath of floods, tropical cyclones, drought, bushfires and hailstorms.
The following images show some of the areas captured by Nearmap following the Queensland outback flooding event – covering a footprint bigger than the US state of Texas.
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Quilpie, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Quilpie, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Thargominda, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Thargominda, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Thargominda, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Thargominda, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Hungerford, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Hungerford, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Hungerford, QLD – 31st March 2025
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Jundah, QLD – 30th March 2025
Nearmap ImpactResponse is the leading Australian post-catastrophe program that provides a safe, accurate view with high-resolution property intelligence.