One in three Australians are worried extreme weather will force them to permanently leave their homes following record heatwaves, floods and bushfires. One-third of Australians are concerned they will be forced to leave their homes, as natural disasters affect more and more people across the country. A Climate Council survey of one and a half thousand Australians shows more than half of respondents personally experienced a climate disaster while living in Australia.
Some of the worst hit areas for extreme weather-related disasters revealed in the survey were Queensland and New South Wales, where whiplash weather extremes are familiar to many. Retired Major General Peter Dunn, the former Commissioner of the ACT Emergency Services Authority, says he has observed a huge increase in anxiety through those states in particular. "People are now looking very carefully at the real estate upon which they sit and say, should I remain here? Now, 99% of those people want to remain where they are. They don't want to move, but can I stay here is the question. And one of the drivers for thinking that.... my property is becoming uninsurable. And that is a big factor in a lot of people's mental health in that they have, as we all do, you and I and everybody else invest or try and invest in a roof over our heads. And that is the biggest investment we typically make in our lives. '' "We got hit by the fires in black summer, a month later we were knee-deep in floo