Flood Warning and Damages in Alice Springs: Part 1 Executive Summary. Part 2 Tangible Damages Part 3 Intangible Damages & Emergency Procedures
Handmer, John; Smith, D. I.; Greenaway, Mark
E-Publications; E-Books; PublicationNT; Report ; 53/1989
1989-04-01
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:1989-04
English
Power and Water Authority
Alice Springs
Report ; 53/1989
application/pdf.
Check within Publication or with content Publisher.
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/228902
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/673596
Technical Report WRA89053 Viewed at 03:02:00 on 18/02/2010 Page 37 of 139. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 21 tc :cc~= from :he Todd River. It is understood thac an ::1s;:::ar.:'O claim for approximately one million dollars is ge:c:::in'~. This is excluded from the cornmerclal direct flood dar age ~3:imate but it illustrates the p~oblems of se;;cit"a;: :,-,~ ou!: the variolJs forms of "!t-later lt damage. P_"5: is often the case a small numbe= of large ent~rpr:5es, in Alice Springs these are mainly hotels a~d motels, :cntribute a very large proportion of the total cQrr:.:7.erc:,=.i damage. This reinforces the view 'Chat s:Jch enterpr~3es should be individually notified of their flood ris~, f::od reduction and mitigation measures discussed and adv:ce :;:'Ten on structural modifications to reduce loss and to ~el~ ~ormulate a flood action plan. The latter ~o cove~ botr. sa~ety of residents and damage reduction at the time of the flc::::.. Consideration should also be given to p_roviding a persc:.alised warning message, if necessary at a cost to the ::::-ec=-::ient. Ind:"r-ec: (jamage, Residenr:.ial In addi:=-on to the direct flood damage there are indi~ect losses, see Table 2.1. It is impo=tant to realize that ite~s re;orted as indirect losses may not be losses to the reg~on. Although they are certainly losses to individuals, in a ve=! isolated city like Alice Springs other local pecple t~~efi~ from expenditure on alternative transport and acccmmc6acion. Losses to the local economy are therefore small. :-:--"is is quite different from direct losses, \.vhich rep~ese~: damage to assets. F:= the residential sector the main indirect losses are the :osc of alternative accommodation and associated expe~ses such as transport. Except in the case of severe ove~floc= flooding, it is usual practice for the residents not to s~ek alternative accow~odation. Apart from members of :he .:-':original community, this was the case in ,"-lice Spr~~gs ~nd the indirect costs were small. r~ only 5 of che 28 households interviewed did a~y of the =es~~ents spend nighcs away from home. The total person nlg~:s, :~cluding young children, was 25. Of these 14 were for one ~aung adult whose parents remained at the property. In all c =.ses overnight accommodation ,las with friends or relatives. It is usual p~actice in flood damage estimation to ailo;; indirect residential costs in the range of 5-15% of direct ::sses. Detailed studies of such costs for the Syd~ey ~:~ods of 1986, which were comparable in many respecLs co those of Alice Springs in 1988, suggesLed chat a figure c~ 5 per cent was applicable. That value is reccmme~~ed for Alice Springs and would result in indirect cases c~ about $80,000. This could be taken to include coStS c~ =esidents using alternative transport when vehicles were fl::Jed. and an allowance for clean-up. Note that househc=' ::ers rarely use ccmmercial cleaners.