Westport needs to look to the future rather than recreate the past

Opinion: The New Zealand Natural Disaster Insurance Scheme, managed by the Earthquake Commission, is a world-leading scheme. The system is designed to supplement private insurance coverage (increasingly insured in lieu of replacement) and, where possible, return the customer to a situation similar to the one that existed prior to the natural disaster.

After natural disasters, it has been standard policy practice to reassure the affected community that life will return to “normal” as soon as possible. Essentially, the message was “Normal transmission will resume”.

This thinking changed after the second Christchurch earthquake in February 2011. Then the question became, should rebuilding at the same sites? Why rebuild in areas of multiple natural hazards, particularly if susceptibility to these hazards is increasing?

Christchurch had known for years prior to the Darfield earthquake that many areas of the city were at appreciable risk of flooding, but although the hazards of liquefaction were also recognized, the city had not experienced a liquefaction event after European settlement. The new normal.

Read more: * Are homes on stilts a good solution to frequent floods? * Military helps clear rubbish as number of red Westport homes to be confirmed * Data will help predict future flood severity – and how to mitigate it * West Coast flood: a temporary village to be established for those whose homes have been wrecked * West Coast flood: Westport rate payers pushed into plan $10 Million Protection in 2017 * EQC 10 Years After the 2011 Earthquake: Has It Changed or Just Modified?

The central government has also recognized that to maintain the portability of insurance, whether from private insurers or reinsurers, Christchurch’s risk profile must be reduced.

Canterbury’s high level of residential insurance coverage provided an opportunity to withdraw from the highest risk areas at the lowest economic cost. The new normal in which Christchurch found itself included a residential red zone, which was the first major withdrawal from a residential area at risk in New Zealand.

Peter Meacham / Stuff

Lisa Gregory outside her flooded home in Westport this week.

More than 7,000 properties, inhabited by more than 20,000 people, have been sold to the government. The government then demanded the insurance money. While withdrawing from these areas before a disaster may have a much lower social cost, natural disasters provide an opportunity to assess whether rebuilding or withdrawing is the best use of financial resources, including insurance money.

So, we find ourselves in the midst of another natural disaster, this time in Westport.

Before embarking on a program to return residential properties to their pre-disaster condition, we need to consider the lasting cost of protecting these properties and what the broader natural hazards look like.

Chris Skelton/Staff

Tyler Croft and Amy Oxford-Hooker at their rental home in Westport. They have lost everything in the recent floods and will need to find somewhere else to live. Furthermore, Amy is scheduled to give birth in a couple of weeks.

Are flood-damaged properties also susceptible to liquefaction and lateral spreading under seismic vibration? Is real estate also vulnerable to sea level rise? tsunami? storms? Are floods getting worse with climate change?

With natural disaster insurance coverage now available, it’s important to make an assessment and, rather than trying to recreate the past, think about what Westport could look like in the future.

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Nick Rogers QSO is a natural hazard specialist at Tonkin + Taylor and held the lead advisory role to government on red zoning in Christchurch in 2011.

Confining rivers inevitably leads to greater disasters. If we want to have a more resilient future, we need to start adapting to the current threats of natural hazards, many of which are dynamic.

The natural disaster in Westport cannot be undone. What Westport can do, however, is seize this opportunity to embark on an adaptation journey. This may lead to a defense against nature, but it is more likely to lead to cohabitation with nature and becoming more resilient. Like Christchurch.

Nick Rogers QSO is a natural hazard specialist at Tonkin + Taylor and held the lead advisory role to government on red zoning in Christchurch in 2011.

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