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$45M insurance claims from March windstorm in eastern Newfoundland

Insurance companies have tallied the cost of a March blizzard that whipped through eastern Newfoundland and says damage claims covered by insurance add up to $45 million.

Hurricane-force winds on March 11 gusted more than 140 km/hr damaging residential and commercial buildings, vehicles and power lines.

Siding and roofs were stripped from houses, traffic lights were torn from their posts and windows were blown out of vehicles.

More than 70,000 people were without power, some for more than a day.

What happened is known in the insurance world as a catastrophic event, according to Amanda Dean, Atlantic vice president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada

"In the insurance industry, anything over 25 million is considered a catastrophic event," Dean said.

The March 11 storm, on a Saturday, had residential and commercial clients calling their insurance companies the next day.

The storm came just months after remnants of Hurricane Matthew — in October 2016 — which resulted in $100 million worth of insurance claims by customers in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

In 2010, Hurricane Igor resulted in $75 million in insurance claims. Those figures from the insurance industry do not include damage to public infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

"One event doesn't necessarily affect insurance rates," Dean said, but noted that catastrophic events are happening more frequently.

Premiums charged are meant to fill up the pool of money that's available to pay out claims and "once the pools are depleted, they have to be filled back up."