MANLY West is the newest name at the top of Queensland’s ever-changing storm damage list – a warning that no suburb can assume it is safe from the next weather blast.
New Suncorp Insurance and AAMI analysis found Manly West recorded more home natural-hazard claims than any other Queensland suburb in the 2025-26 financial year.
But the bigger story is how quickly the risk has moved.
In the past five years, Queensland’s claims hotspot has jumped from Bracken Ridge to Maryborough, Gympie, Runaway Bay and now Manly West with each community hit by a different mix of floods, hail, wild winds and severe storms.
Suncorp analysed 126,752 Queensland home natural-hazard claims lodged between FY22 and FY26, including damage caused by storms, hail, flood, lightning, rain, cyclones and wind.
Manly West’s result was driven by major claims activity following Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the southeast Queensland and northern NSW giant hail outbreak.
Suncorp Executive General Manager Home Insurance Anna Cartwright said the changing list showed homeowners everywhere needed to be ready.
“Five years of claims data tells us one thing very clearly: no Queensland community should assume it’s immune to severe storm impacts,” Ms Cartwright said.
“Some communities appear in our claims data time and again while others can go from barely featuring one year to becoming a major hotspot the next.
“The lesson isn’t to focus on which suburb topped the list last year.
“It’s that every Queensland household should prepare for severe storms before it arrives.”
Bracken Ridge topped the list after the devastating February and March 2022 floods, while Gympie’s FY24 result followed severe thunderstorms and hail in December 2023.
Maryborough and Gympie were the only areas to repeatedly feature among the State’s claims hotspots.
Suncorp severe weather forecaster Justin Noonan said even a milder outlook should not lull residents into thinking the threat had passed.
“Queenslanders can still expect severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall,” he said.
“Seasonal outlooks can tell us about broad weather patterns, but they can’t tell us exactly where the next severe thunderstorm will strike.”
Queensland SES Acting Chief Officer Danny Baade urged residents to prepare before warnings are issued by clearing gutters, securing loose outdoor items, trimming overhanging branches and checking roofs.
Residents are also being urged to prepare an emergency kit, clear drains and downpipes, secure backyard and balcony items, and park vehicles under cover or away from trees and powerlines where possible.
