New data shows holiday hotspots among the NSW locations most impacted by flooding

Inland towns and tourist hotspots 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.

Rural Narrabri in the State’s Northwest, comes in at number one for current flooding risk and is also number one on the list of Top 20 NSW suburbs affected by flooding in 30 years, according to data from Groundsure ClimateIndex™ reports, available through InfoTrack.

Rounding out the top five are Northern New South Wales’ Moree at number two, the Central West’s Forbes at number three, Walgett in the State’s North at number four, and the Riverina’s Moama at five.

Popular tourist locations also feature – the beautiful coastal town of Yamba, a mecca with holidaymakers, is named at number eight, Grafton in the Northern Rivers comes in at number 13, with bustling Port Macquarie, on the mid north coast, at number 15. The Central Western town of Dubbo sneaks in at number 20 on the list.

Groundsure CEO Dan Montagnani said sophisticated data and modelling is used to assess flood risk now and in the future.

“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.”

Interestingly, all the suburbs listed as most at risk now, remain the most at-risk decades from now.

Grafton is slightly more at risk of flooding in the future, going from 13 on the list of suburbs affected by flooding now, to 12 on the list of suburbs most impacted in 30 years, effectively swapping places with Condobolin.

“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 data not only on flooding 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.