Ten days of snow, rain, wind and flooding in July has caused 31 million NZ dollars (22.4 million U.S. dollars) worth of damage, the Insurance Council of New Zealand said on Wednesday.
The July 12-14 nationwide snow, rain and wind cost insurers 10.3 million NZ dollars followed closely by three-day nationwide flooding from July 20 costing 20.9 million NZ dollars.
"With three months left in play, 2017 is already the most expensive year for weather events since our records began," said Insurance Council Chief Executive Tim Grafton.
Provisional data showed nearly 3,600 house and contents claims costing over 16 million NZ dollars (11.6 million U.S. dollars), 843 commercial claims at nearly 11 million NZ dollars (8 million U.S. dollars) and 426 motor vehicle claims costing 2.7 million NZ dollars (2 million U.S. dollars).
The two July weather events brought the total for significant weather events for 2017 to 230.2 million NZ dollars (166.6 million U.S. dollars) which now surpasses the year of the Wahine storm in 1968, Grafton said.