New data shows central west towns among the NSW locations most impacted by flooding

Central western towns feature highly on the list of the top 20 New South Wales suburbs affected by flooding now, and in the future, according to new data.

Forbes comes in at number three on the list of current flood risk, with Condobolin at number 12, Cowra at number 17, and Dubbo at number 20, according to data from Groundsure ClimateIndex™ reports, available through InfoTrack.

Rural Narrabri in the State’s Northwest comes in at number one among suburbs affected by flooding today.

Groundsure CEO Dan Montagnani said sophisticated data and modelling is used to assess a property’s flood risk now 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 Central West residents, towns retain their at-risk rankings decades from now, apart from Condobolin which slightly improves to fall from 12th to 13th position on the list.

“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.

Homebuyers are encouraged to take advantage of the ClimateIndex™ reports which are a new tool, available only to prospective buyers in New South Wales, which analyses 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.