Natural disasters cost Australia A$1.5bn

Storms, flood, cyclones and other forms of natural disaster cost Australia A$1.5bn (US$760mn) last year, according to the Australian Government’s Emergency Management Agency. The estimate is $700mn less than for the previous year, when a hailstorm in Sydney alone caused $2.2bn damage. But despite a relatively quiet year, the figure is still above Australia’s annual average cost of natural disasters, just over $1.1bn.