Wild weather across the state took its toll on the Hunter this winter, with new figures showing that the area was the second hardest hit in regional NSW - going by insurance figures.
Claims for weather damage in the Hunter Valley made up 6.9 per cent of the NSW total, sitting only behind Illawarra at 7 per cent, according to NRMA figures released this week.
The Central Coast was ranked third, with 6.78 per cent of the state's total weather damage claims, while Newcastle-Lake Macquarie was sat at sixth position, with 5.3 per cent.
According to the NRMA research, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Maitland, East Maitland, Raymond Terrace and Scone were the most affected in the Hunter Valley, while Charlestown, Newcastle CBD, Morisset, Merewether, Warners Bay and Cameron Park were the worst hit in the Newcastle-Lake Macquarie area.
Major flooding struck the Hunter in July - inundating homes and turning Maitland suburb Gillieston Heights into an island for several days - prompting natural disaster declarations from the NSW government.
The NSW Bureau of Meteorology earlier this week declared a La Nina event for eastern Australia for the third consecutive year, which is expected to bring higher than average rainfall during spring and summer.
"It's really a wake-up call for governments to stop dragging their feet on the measures needed to protect communities from increasingly intense and destructive floods," the former State Emergency Service deputy director from Maitland, Chas Keys, said on Thursday.
