Insurers are not yet able to say how extensive the damage is from last Friday’s storm. “The storm was very unique and therefore it is not yet possible to provide an overview,” says a spokesperson for the Dutch Association of Insurers.
“National storms are always easy to predict, but this was very local. We can only provide an overview when we have received a quarter of the reports from all insurers. That will take another week and a half,” says the spokesperson.
Insurer Interpolis did come up with an overview this morning. Up to and including yesterday, almost 800 reports of storm damage have been received there, mainly from the area around Leersum. That place was hit hardest on Friday: at least six houses were declared uninhabitable and thousands of trees were blown down.
‘More frequent crazy fall winds and mega hail grains’
More than fifty damage reports were received from Hoogeveen and the surrounding area, mainly dents in cars due to hail. And from the municipality of Alkmaar, water damage was mainly reported due to extreme rainfall.
The Dutch Association of Insurers expects that extreme weather events will become more frequent in the coming years. “Due to climate change, we are increasingly confronted with crazy katabatic winds and mega hailstones.”
Cleaning up can take a few more weeks
In Leersum, hard work is still being done to make all roads and bicycle paths passable again. But according to the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug, which Leersum falls under, it can take up to two weeks before everything is cleaned up. Some roads are still closed.
Many residents help clean up. The municipality calls this “fantastic” and “heartwarming”.
The residents of the six houses declared uninhabitable sleep with family or friends. “It is still being examined whether the houses are definitively uninhabitable or how long it will take before the residents can return,” a spokesperson for the municipality told ANP news agency.
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