Popular Port Macquarie among the NSW locations most impacted by flooding

Popular Port Macquarie has made the list of the 20 New South Wales suburbs most impacted by flooding both now and in the future, according to new data.

The major regional hub on the Mid North Coast comes in at number 15 of locations most affected by flood waters today and in 30 years’ time, according to unique data from the Groundsure ClimateIndex™ reports, available through InfoTrack.

The Hastings River location’s ranking may not come as a surprise considering recent natural disasters, including the 1-in-100-year flood event in March 2021, further flooding in November 2021, and flooding again in March and July of 2022.

Groundsure CEO Dan Montagnani said their data looks at more than just recent events to determine flood risk properties face today and in 30 years’ time.

“The data and models use high-resolution topographical data, detailed land cover information, and advanced weather models to accurately simulate flood depths and extents,” Mr Montagnani said.

“This comprehensive evaluation, provided by Royal HaskoningDHV’s division Twinn, encompasses various scenarios, including surface water, river, and tidal flooding, and integrates state-of-the-art climate models to provide flood risk assessments in the context of climate change.”

Unfortunately for Port Macquarie residents, there’s no change in the hotspot’s risk level in the future.

“The minimal variation between current and future flooding impact rankings can be attributed to the inherent nature of flood risk, which is primarily governed by topography. There is very little addition of new high-risk areas,” Mr Montagnani said.

Rural Narrabri in the State’s Northwest is the number one flood-prone suburb both now and in the future.

Moree in Northern NSW is in second place, Forbes in the Central West comes in at number three, Walgett in Northern NSW at number four, and Moama in the Riverina District in fifth position.

Homebuyers are encouraged to take advantage of the Groundsure ClimateIndex™ reports which are a new tool available to prospective homebuyers in New South Wales which analyse not only flooding risk but also bushfires and coastal erosion.

InfoTrack Global Head of Property John Ahern said the Groundsure reports are unique in that they provide property-specific assessments for individual residences, instead of broad regional ratings.

“The reports allow property lawyers and conveyancers to better inform their buyers and that’s more important than ever with flooding an ongoing risk for many regional locations in Australia,” Mr Ahern said.

The list of suburbs worst affected by flooding is tabled below. Prospective homebuyers can search a property address via InfoTrackGO to purchase a Groundsure ClimateIndex™ for that residence.