Christmas & New Year Storms

Severe storms swept the Gold Coast, its hinterland and the Scenic Rim between 23 December 2023 and 3 January 2024, the worst of them a destructive supercell on Christmas Day. The Insurance Council of Australia escalated the event to an insurance catastrophe (CAT 233) on 29 December 2023.

The damage path ran through Jimboomba, Cedar Vale, Cedar Creek, Mount Tamborine, Tamborine, Oxenford, Upper Coomera, Coomera and Helensvale, with further damage on the Darling Downs around Toowoomba.

The wind. Destructive wind was the dominant peril: the Gold Coast Seaway officially recorded 106 km/h, gusts above 120 km/h were widespread between Jimboomba and Coomera, and a private weather station on Mount Tamborine recorded 158 km/h (unofficial).

The hail. Giant hail to 8 cm fell at Rathdowney in the Scenic Rim on Christmas Day.

The damage. Roofs torn off, widespread structural and tree damage, and multi-day power outages across the hinterland. The event generated roughly 38,000 claims, with the highest concentration on the Gold Coast, and $1.33 billion in claims, making it the costliest Australian extreme weather event of that year (ICA Catastrophe Resilience Report 2023–24).

Can you still claim? Often, yes. There is generally no fixed deadline to lodge, and this is a well-documented declared catastrophe. The practical question is evidence: the longer damage sits, the harder it is to attribute to the storm rather than wear. If your roof hasn’t been professionally inspected since Christmas 2023, sooner is stronger than later.