Damage reports due to Storm Poly continue to rise at insurance firm Interpolis

The number of reports of damage caused by Storm Poly continued to rise at insurer Interpolis over the course of Wednesday. The number of reports from private individuals stood at about 500 around the end of the afternoon, according to the insurer. Two-thirds of the reports were filed from Noord-Holland. The number of reports in Friesland was also increasing, where the summer storm developed later in the day.

Earlier, Interpolis reported that the reports mostly concern damage to homes. "A few dozen reports were also received from Zuid-Holland and Gelderland," the insurer said.

"The number of damage reports about damage to companies and entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector seems to be better than expected for the time being. That concerns a few dozen," said a spokeswoman for Interpolis.

Since Wednesday morning, Interpolis was running an emergency team to help customers deal with damage. If necessary, this team will be scaled up, the insurer reported.

In the coming days, hundreds more reports of damage in and around homes will be received, said MainPlus, a company that specializes in organizing damage repair. "The nature of the damage has been fairly diverse so far," said commercial director Gerard van Engelenburg. "We are currently mainly receiving reports of moisture damage due to rain, zinc gutters blown loose, solar panels blown away and trees that blew over on houses."

Another insurance firm, Asr, also reported earlier that it had already received the first calls about damage. "So far, Asr has not observed a large number of damage reports due to the weather conditions," said a spokeswoman. "The number of incoming calls from the storm is low, a handful, and there are no major reports of damage yet." The insurer also said it was "well prepared" for the number of damage reports, including with more staff available over the phone.

There were reports from the fire brigade on social media that firefighters turned out en masse for reports of storm damage due to fallen trees, and blown over fences and scaffolding, such as in Hazerswoude-Rijndijk in Zuid-Holland.

About 500 reports of fallen trees and knocked down branches have been made so far in Amsterdam. Those reports sometimes concerns the same tree, so it does not necessarily mean that 500 trees were actually blown over. According to the first estimates, it concerns "dozens of trees," about twenty of which are large, according to the municipality. "The tree crews and contractors are working hard to clear all the trees. In addition, there are also supervisors outside to assess unsafe situations with trees. This way we know where the teams should go first."

The parks in the city, which were closed due to the extreme weather, were also being cleaned up. "Due to the risk of falling branches, a number of parks will remain closed for some time. Tonight we will see whether the parks can open again."

Poly is the second severe July storm in the Netherlands in more than a hundred years. Those who need the fire brigade on site when a situation is not an emergency can call 0900-0904. Various security regions used social media to ask people not to immediately call 112 about storm damage. "Only call 112 in emergencies," said the Kennemerland Security Region.