NU Online News Service, Feb. 1, 1:37 p.m.EST

As waterlogged Queensland,Australia, braces for another round of flooding, the InsuranceCouncil of Australia (ICA) raised its estimate of industry losses to $1.5 billionfrom previous flooding to the same area.

ICA said its members have received about 38,460 claims. Nearlyhalf are for residential properties and about 10 percent are forcommercial properties. The ICA also documented claims for residentcontents, commercial and personal automobiles, and businessinterruption. More than half of the claims are from the city ofBrisbane.

The high amount of claims is despite the fact that floodcoverage in Australia varies depending on the insurer. Theadditional premium for flood coverage is minimal in many areas andpenetration can be high, but in flood-prone areas deductibles areas high as 50 percent. The coverage is included in many commercialpolicies.

Reinsurer PartnerRe Ltd. said Australia flooding in December isexpected to cost the company between $25 million and $35 million,to be recorded in 2010 fourth-quarter results. ChubbCorp. recently said the first round of flooding inlate 2010 did not affect the insurer, but it expects 2011flood-related losses of between $75 million and $100 million todampen first-quarter earnings—an estimate made before this latestflooding.

Queensland-based insurer SunCorp said earlier this month thatits reinsurance program would limit the cost of claims relating tostorm and flood damage in Brisbane and areas of southeastQueensland since January to between $70 million and $90 million.The company will probably spend $120 million to reinstate multiplecovers for the rest of the fiscal year.

From the first weather system late last year SunCorp said it hasreceived 2,500 claims and is expecting losses of between $130million and $150 million.

Catastrophe modelers Risk Management Solutions (RMS) and AIRWorldwide warned of more extreme flooding to Queensland due toTropical Storm Yasi, a Category 4 storm with sustained winds ofnearly 140 mph. Storm surge is also a major concern, AIR added.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the cyclone seriouslythreatens northern Queensland communities.

RMS said Yasi is projected to make landfall as a stormcomparable to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and larger than CycloneLarry that hit Innisfail, Australia, in 2006 and caused $547.4million in insured losses. Most of the forecast models have Yasipassing between Innisfail and Mackay, and the towns of Cairns andTownsville are expected to experience destructive winds from thecyclone.