Sydney’s north-west suburb of Kellyville worst hit by storms, NRMA data reveals

[Bob Anderson IIA]

AS Sydney prepares for summer storms to start rolling in, a list of the city’s suburbs worst-hit by damaging weather events has been released.

Suburbs in the north and north-west of the city topped NRMA Insurance’s list of Sydney areas worst affected by storms, based on its 2016-17 claim data.

Kellyville was top of the list, followed by St Ives, Rouse Hill, Wahroonga, Turramurra, Beaumont Hills, Castle Hill, Pymble, Glenhaven, and Hornsby.

Hundreds of cars and homes were damaged when a massive hailstorm struck Kellyville and The Hills district in February.

The Hills State Emergency Service crews, assisted by Fire & Rescue NSW and Rural Fire Service, attended to more than 830 jobs in one day — more than the 600 jobs they handled for the whole of last year.

► The Superstorm that ripped through Sydney

SES crews from all over NSW beefed up the rescue effort with teams working through the day and night to provide relief. On Sunday, there were 80 crews at work.
AU NSW: Sydney North Shore Gets Lashed by Hailstones February 18

According to the Insurance Council of Australia, they had 15,000 claims from all over NSW, worth a total of $39 million, with cars and roof sustaining the most damage.

The NSW areas with the most storm-related claims were northern Sydney, Illawarra, the northern beaches, north-west Sydney, and the Hunter region.

The NRMA Insurance data revealed:

►Storm damage is the leading cause of home insurance claims in NSW with over half (52%) of all home claims made in the last financial year a result of storm damage.

►The months of February 2017 (80% of all home claims that month) and March 2017 (72% of all home claims that month) were particularly bad for storm damage in NSW.
►Despite the damage that storms consistently cause in NSW, less than 1 in 10 (9%) residents in the state believe storms are the biggest threat to their property, while half (46%) of all NSW residents have done nothing to prepare their properties for storms.

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/busine ... 6098342b68