Flood-damaged economies

Flood disasters damage local and national economies by disrupting businesses and connectedness. This costs taxpayers and business owners. For example, the Queensland 2010-11 floods destroyed 75% of banana crops, leading to inflated prices. It also led to a flood levy paid by non-affected taxpayers to fund reconstruction of parts of the state. The 2022 flood saw 62 % of small businesses in Queensland close for under 2 weeks. It also cost an estimated $492 million in public infrastructure damage.

Delana Carbone and Jenna Hanson “Australia’s worst floods” Australian Geographic March 8, 2012  

Deloitte Access Economics (2022) “The social, financial and economic costs of the 2022 South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding Event” Queensland Reconstruction Authority

Image: Sandbagged premises in South Bank Parklands, Brisbane, January 2011. Courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.