Storm Eunice overloads emergency and insurance company phone lines

Storm damage reports continue to flood insurance companies and many new reports are expected throughout Saturday.

Insurance company Interpolis received 2,421 damage reports by 8 p.m. Friday, while the code red warning for Storm Eunice had not yet been lifted, AD reports. Emergency lines were also overloaded and people were advised to only call 112 in life-threatening situations.

As of Friday evening, damage reported to insurance company Univé from the two storms over the past week exceeded 1 million euros.

More than 90 percent of damage reports were related to homes, such as parts of roofs blowing off or being damaged by falling trees, according to AD. The majority of reports came from Zuid-Holland, then Noord-Brabant and Noord-Holland.

Reports to security regions and fire brigades escalated during Friday afternoon, with many of the reports also concerning falling trees and loose billboards and traffic lights, AD reports. Most reports to security regions came from Breda, then Tilburg and Bergen op Zoom.

Insurers expect a record number of reports after the storms this week and have deployed extra staff members to answer phones, according to Nu.nl. Interpolis has asked that people report damages online, because phone lines are extremely busy.

After the weekend, an industry-wide estimate of the extent of the damage will be conducted by the umbrella organization Verbond van Verzekeraars, said an insurance company spokesperson.