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Cost of natural disasters

New Zealand has experienced more than 150 severe weather events and natural disasters since ICNZ began keeping records in 1968.

Cost of natural disasters

Natural hazards cost New Zealanders millions of dollars. Fortunately, New Zealand property is extremely well insured compared to other countries, which means the insurance industry bears most of the costs when disaster strikes.

The table below lists natural disasters which have occurred in New Zealand since 1968, and the cost to the insurance industry in paying claims for damage resulting from those events.

CPI is calculated as at 30 June 2017.

*Numbers marked with an asterisk are provisional.

Year Event Day Month Cost ($m) Inflation adjusted cost ($m)
2018 New Plymouth - Whakatane tornados 20 August 2.8*
2018 Northland-Bay of Plenty flooding 14-15 July 2.5*
2018 Gisborne-Hawke's Bay flooding 11-12 June 4.0
2018 Upper North Island - Hawke's Bay flooding 3-4 June 4.3
2018 Nationwide severe weather including flooding in Rotorua 27-29 April 21.2
2018 Severe weather including tornadoes 10-11 Apr 74.4
2018 Ex-Tropical Cyclone Gita 20 Feb 35.6
2018 Cyclone Fehi 1 Feb 45.9
2018 Nationwide severe weather 4-7 Jan 34.2
2017 South Island flooding 20-22 Jul 31.2
2017 Nationwide snow/wind/rain 12-14 Jul 12.5
2017 Cyclone Cook remnants 13-16 Apr 17.2
2017 Cyclone Debbie remnants 3-7 Apr 91.46
2017 Upper North Island flooding 7-12 Mar 61.7
2017 Port Hills fires 13-17 Feb 18.3
2017 Dunedin flooding 13 Feb 1.7
2017 Nationwide severe weather 18-23 Jan 8.6
2016 Lower North Island Flooding and Wind 14-17 Nov 9.1 9.2
2016 Kaikōura earthquake 14 Nov 2,122*
2016 Flooding - Auckland to Waikato and Hailstorm Hawke's Bay 2-3 Oct 0.6 0.6
2016 Heavy Rain and Flooding - Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay 25-30 Sep 1.2 1.2
2016 Nationwide Storm 7-9 Sep 3.8 3.9
2016 Flooding and Gales - Auckland 29 Jun 2.4 2.4
2016 Flooding- Lower North Island 5 May 3.9 4.0
2016 Flood - Coromandel and Auckland 17 Apr 0.6 0.6
2016 Flooding and Wind - North and South Islands 23-24 Mar 30.2 30.9
2015 Flood - Gisborne 21 Sep 0.8 0.8
2015 Flooding and Storm - Upper North Island 18-19 Jul 6.2 6.3
2015 Flooding and Storm South Island West Coast 19-22 Jun 8.4 8.6
2015 Flooding and Storm Lower North Island including Whanganui 18-21 Jun 41.5 42.4
2015 Flood and Storm - North and South Islands excluding Otago 2-5 Jun 3.0 3.1
2015 Flooding and Storm - Otago 2-4 Jun 28.2 28.8
2015 Extreme Weather Lower North Island 13-15 May 21.9 22.4
2015 Bay of Plenty Tornado 14 May 2.8 2.9
2015 Cyclone Pam 15-18 Mar 2.2 2.2
2015 Flooding and Storm North and South Islands 6-7 Mar 1.3 1.3
2014 Hailstorm - North and South Islands 4 Nov 4.9 5.0
2014 Auckland Power Outage 5 Oct 2.6 2.7
2014 Northland - Coromandel Storms 8-10 Jul 18.8 19.3
2014 Severe Weather North and South Islands 9-11 Jun 37.6 38.6
2014 Nelson-Tasman Floods 25 Jun 2.7 2.8
2014 Easter Weekend Storm and Floods 17 Apr 55.3 56.9
2014 Cyclone Lusi 15-16 Mar 3.6 3.7
2014 Canterbury and Lower North Island storm 4-5 Mar 22.5 23.2
2014 Canterbury storm 23 Feb 4.8 4.9
2013 Cook Strait earthquake 21 July 14.9 15.5
2013 Nationwide storm 14-16 Oct 12.4 12.8
2013 Nationwide storm 11-12 Sep 74.5 77.1
2013 Cook Strait earthquake 16 Aug 16.2 16.8
2013 Nationwide storms 20-22 Jun 39.3 41.0
2013 North Island Floodsn 4-7 May 2.9 3.0
2013 Nelson/Bay of Plenty storm and floods 19-22 Apr 46.2 48.2
2012 Auckland Tornado 6 Dec 8.7 9.1
2011 Nelson Floods 15-16 Dec 16.8 17.8
2011 Taranaki tornados 19 Jun 1.6 1.7
2011 Auckland tornado 3 May 6.0 6.4
2011 Flooding, Hawkes Bay 26-27 Apr 6.4 6.8
2011 Storm/FloodingBay of Plenty to Northland 29 Jan 19.8 21.3
2011 Flooding Mid-Upper North Island 23 Jan 6.9 7.4
2011 Canterbury earthquakes 2010-2011 - accumlated (Insurers) 22,288*
2010 Gisborne Flooding 13/14 Oct 0.3 0.3
2010 Southland Storm 89 Sep 49.3 54.5
2010 Flooding - Northland/Coromandel/Eastern BOP 1 Jun 12.5 14.0
2010 Flooding North & South Islands 24-27 May 5.5 6.1
2010 Wellington Thunderstorm 12 Mar 1.2 1.3
2009 North Island Storms 11-12 Jul 1.7 1.9
2009 Taranaki Tornado 21 Jul 0.5 0.6
2009 Fiordland Earthquake 15 Jul 1.5 1.7
2009 Kaitaia Tornado 4 Jul 0.0 0.0
2009 Bay of Plenty Hail Storm 11 May 2.3 2.6
2008 Nationwide Storms 30-1 Jul/Aug 46.3 53.2
2008 Canterbury hail storm 17 Nov 11.2 12.8
2008 Cambridge Tornado 17 Oct 1.0 1.2
2008 Flooding Nth Canterbury and Marlborough [prelim.] 26 Aug 0.8 0.9
2008 Hastings Earthquake 25 Aug 0.2 0.3
2008 North Island Storms 26-27 Jul 26.7 30.7
2007 Gisborne earthquake 20 Dec 30.5 36.1
2007 High Winds Event, Central North and Lower South Islands 23-24 Oct 4.8 5.7
2007 Storm event - Far North / Auckland / Coromandel 10-12 Jul 60.5 72.7
2007 Frost claims - Otago & Canterbury 7-9 Jul 7.0 8.4
2007 Tornado events 4-5 Jul 8.3 10.0
2007 Flooding Hawkes Bay 17 Jul 1.1 1.3
2007 Flooding - Nelson & New Plymouth 23 May 1.1 1.3
2007 Storm event - Far North 29 Mar 12.5 15.2
2006 Windstorm damage - Mid to Upper North Island 9 Nov 3.4 4.1
2006 Storm/Flood events - Wellington, Manawatu, Wairarapa 5-7 Jul 2.7 3.3
2006 Storms North & South Islands 12 Jun 42.5 52.3
2006 Flooding - Oamaru / Dunedin 26 Apr 1.8 2.2
2005 Flooding - Gisborne/East Cape 23 Oct 0.7 0.9
2005 BOP Tauranga / Matata 18 May 28.5 36.5
2005 Christchurch Hailstorm 23-24 Mar 13.0 16.7
2005 Flooding - Lower Nth Island 31 Mar 0.6 0.8
2005 Storm damage Bay of Plenty 25 Mar 0.9 1.2
2005 Greymouth Tornado 10 Mar 9.2 11.8
2005 Rain Storm - Dunedin 7 Feb 5.0 6.4
2005 Flooding - Wellington Region 6 Jan 2.5 3.2
2005 Coastal erosion - Haumoana H.B. 0.0 0.0
2004 Flooding - Hawkes Bay 18 Oct 4.8 6.2
2004 Storms - North and South Islands 15-20 Aug 8.7 11.4
2004 Eastern Bay of Plenty Floods 17-19 Jul 17.6 23.0
2004 Wanganui Hailstorm 6 Apr 1.3 1.7
2004 Storm Damage - Lower Nth Island 15-16 Feb 112.0 148.3
2004 Storm Damage - North Island 20-21 Jan 0.8 1.0
2003 North & South Islands / Storms & Floods 3-4 Oct 2.3 3.1
2003 Lower North Island Flooding / Storm Damage 9-10 Jun 1.0 1.3
2002 North Island Flooding / Storm Damage 21 Jun 21.5 29.3
2002 Dunedin Flooding 17 Jan 0.3 0.4
2002 Canterbury Flooding 14 Jan 0.3 0.3
2002 Wellington / Wairarapa Flooding 10 Jan 0.6 0.8
2002 Canterbury Hail Storm 5 Jan 3.0 4.2
2001 Wellington / Wairarapa Floods 10 Dec 0.6 0.8
2001 Storm Damage North Island 4 Nov 0.5 0.7
2001 Masterton Hailstorm 7 Jan 1.5 2.1
2000 Canterbury Storms 12 Oct 9.4 13.4
2000 North Island Severe Weather 26 Sep 4.2 6.0
2000 Auckland / Coromandel Floods 3 Jul 7.6 11.0
2000 Tauranga / Eastern Bay of Plenty Floods 14 Apr 1.9 2.8
1999 Queenstown Lakes District Floods 1 Dec 46.1 67.6
1999 South Canterbury Storms 2 Jul 0.6 0.9
1999 Whangarei / Rotorua Floods 1 May 2.1 3.1
1999 Dargaville Floods 18 Apr 1.7 2.5
1999 Northland & Pukekohe Floods 22 Jan 5.0 7.4
1998 Upper North Island Storms 29 Nov 5.0 7.3
1998 North & South Islands Storms 30 Oct 2.0 2.9
1998 North & South Islands Storms 22 Oct 6.2 9.1
1998 North & South Island Floods / Storms 1 Jul 11.8 17.3
1998 Mercury Energy Crisis 1 May 10.2 15.0
1997 South Island Windstorms 19 Dec 0.2 0.3
1997 North & South Island Windstorms 1 Dec 2.9 4.3
1997 Southland & Otago Wind & Hail 13 Nov 0.4 0.6
1997 Auckland Floods 28 Sep 0.7 1.0
1997 Coromandel Floods 25 Sep 0.5 0.7
1997 Northland Floods 30 Jun 1.2 1.8
1997 Wairoa Floods 3 Jun 0.5 0.8
1997 Auckland Floods 24 May 3.7 5.5
1997 South Island Storms 21 Jan 1.1 1.6
1997 Cyclone Dreena 11 Jan 3.2 4.8
1996 Cyclone Fergus 30 Dec 1.6 2.4
1996 Weather related losses 1 Dec 2.1 3.1
1996 Weather related losses June & July 3 Jul 8.1 12.2
1995 Thames / Kaiaua Floods 18 Jul 2.8 4.3
1995 North & South Island Floods 2 Jul 4.5 6.9
1995 New Plymouth Floods 25 Apr 3.6 5.6
1995 Whangarei & District Floods 1.7 2.6
1994 North & South Storm / Floods 1 Nov 6.0 9.5
1994 South Canterbury Floods 19 Feb 1.5 2.4
1994 Hastings Hailstorm * 10.8 17.4
1993 Kaikoura Flood 24 Dec 7.6 12.3
1992 Canterbury Snowstorm 28 Aug 7.0 11.5
1992 Auckland Tornado 1.1 1.8
1991 Otago Floods 18 Feb 1.6 2.7
1991 Albany Tornado 1.5 2.5
1990 Taranaki / Wanganui Floods 8 Aug 1.8 3.1
1988 Greymouth Floods 1 Sep 13.4 25.6
1988 Manawatu Floods 25 Jul 2.5 4.8
1988 Greymouth Floods 1 May 3.2 6.2
1988 Cyclone Bola 8 Mar 37.0 72.1
1987 Bay of Plenty Earthquake 192.0 392.9
1986 North Otago / South Canterbury Floods 13 Mar 18.5 46.5
1986 Auckland Floods 0.4 1.0
1986 Nelson Floods 0.4 1.0
1985 South Auckland 1 May 2.9 8.0
1985 Thames / Coromandel / Te Aroha 5.9 15.9
1985 Wellington / Hutt Valley 1.4 3.8
1985 Auckland Floods 3.6 9.7
1985 Chatham Islands 0.8 2.1
1985 Gisborne Floods 1.7 4.6
1985 Hawkes Bay / Wairarapa 0.9 2.4
1984 Invercargill / Southland Floods 1 Jan 45.8 147.7
1984 Greymouth Floods 3.5 11.0
1984 Auckland Floods 1.8 5.6
1983 Christchurch Storm 3.5 11.5
1983 Marlborough / Golden Bay Floods 2.3 7.5
1981 Thames / Coromandel / Paeroa Floods 1 Apr 7.0 30.2
1981 Keri Keri Floods 1 Mar 2.0 8.7
1980 Onehunga Tornado 1 Aug 1.0 4.7
1980 Taieri / Otago / New Plymouth Floods 5 Jun 8.0 38.7
1980 South Island Summer Floods 17 Jan 2.3 11.8
1978 Otago Floods 16 Oct 10.3 63.5
1976 Wellington / Hutt Valley Floods 6.2 50.3
1975 Canterbury Storms 1 Aug 7.0 66.1
1968 Wahine storm 10 Apr 3.5 60.8
1968 Loss of Wahine 10 Apr 10.0 173.6