Insurance company received 800 reports of damage caused by storms

Insurance company Interpolis has received 797 reports until Sunday about damage caused by last week’s heavy storms. The most reports, 63, came from the municipality of Heuvelrug in Utrecht, newswire ANP reported.

The town of Leersum, a part of Utrechtse Heuvelrug, was most severely hit. Nine people were injured, two of whom required hospitalization. Between ten to twenty houses were made uninhabitable by extreme weather on Friday nights in Leersum.

The torrential rains and gusty winds also damaged numerous cars and uprooted thousands of trees. Homes suffered serious damage due to the fallen trees and the wind caused roof tiles to be blown away. Temporary accommodation was provided in a sports hall and a cultural center.

"It was crazy. The windows swung open, hail came inside and the wind suddenly swept through the house," an inhabitant of Leersum said.

There were also 54 damage reports from Hoogeveen and the surrounding area alone, with many for cars dented by hail. Interpolis also received 32 reports in the municipality of Alkmaar, mostly for water damage. On Friday, the coastal strip near Castricum, Egmond, Alkmaar, Warmenhuizen and the Zijpe polder had to deal with 100 millimeters of rainfall in a very short time. Heavy rainfall persisted in the overnight period from Saturday to Sunday again, especially around Alkmaar.

Insurers cannot yet say how extensive the damage is from last Friday's storm. "The storm was very unique and therefore it is not yet possible to give an overview," a spokesperson for the Dutch Association of Insurers told NOS.

"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," they said.

The Dutch Association of Insurers noted that extreme weather will likely become more frequent in the coming years. "Due to climate change, we are increasingly facing katabatic winds and mega hailstones."