This year’s floods are now the second-costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history, passing 1974’s Cyclone Tracy and sitting only behind 1999’s Sydney Hailstorm, with the Insurance Council of Australia revealing the latest figures on insured losses.

Climbing 6% since last month, insured losses now sit at a record-breaking $5.134 billion – making the 2022 floods that impacted Queensland and NSW in February and March the country’s costliest-ever flood event.

Of that figure, more than $2 billion has already been paid out to insurance customers, who collectively made 230,000 claims, worth an average of $22,000 each.

The new data comes as the CSIRO’s Our Future World report reveals the cost of natural disasters is expected to triple over the next 30 years as climate change worsens.

The silver lining to this dark cloud is artificial intelligence (AI), says the national science agency, which flagged the tech as being key to addressing such issues into the future.

“The next wave of digital innovation will generate $10 trillion to $15 trillion globally,” CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall said.

“Australia can tap into this to transform existing jobs and create new jobs and wealth, while leveraging AI to solve some of our greatest challenges, like out-thinking bushfires, accelerating vaccine development, predicting drought, or stabilising our energy grid. 

“We have the opportunity now to use science to invent the kind of world we want to live in – but we have to act, and we have to do it together.”

Report co-lead author Dr Stefan Hajkowicz added: “We anticipate that while the pandemic sped up digital transformation, the real explosion in our capability is yet to come.

“In this environment, digital skills will become more valuable, but rather than replacing human intelligence, technologies like AI will assist us in doing our work better.”

One such company is Spectur Limited (ASX: SP3), an Australian AI tech platform that helps address floods, bushfires, tsunamis and other natural disasters via its solar-powered security and warning systems.

Using AI provided by CSIRO’s Data61 digital research labs, Spectur’s camera-based surveillance units sense, think and act independently – detecting potentially dangerous situations early and responding quickly to minimise the loss of lives and damage to property.

Please join Spectur MD Gerard Dyson for an investor briefing on Tuesday, 16th August at 12pm (AEST) where he will discuss how Spectur’s artificial intelligence surveillance platform is used by governments and businesses to help stop theft, trespassing, illegal dumping and vandalism, and protect the community from floods, bushfires, tsunamis, storms and shark attacks. Click here to register for the session. 

Reach Corporate provides Corporate Advisory Services, including managing investor communications on behalf of Spectur Limited and will receive fees for its services.

• CSIRO, Seven megatrends that will shape the next 20 years
• Insurance Council, $2 billion in flood payments already made by insurers – Floods now Australia’s second costliest weather event