New Zealand insurer Tower says claims costs for storm damage caused by the latter stages of ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie will reach $NZ10-12 million ($9.3-11.2 million).

Tower staff recently gained access to the flooded North Island town of Edgecumbe, where residents were evacuated and a state of emergency was declared after the nearby river burst a levee.

Tower is working with its customers to assess the damage to their property but a full understanding of the impacts is not yet fully known, CEO Richard Harding says.

Aggregate reinsurance will absorb the first $NZ5 million ($4.7 million) of losses and catastrophe reinsurance will pay for claims above $NZ10 million ($9.3 million).

As a result, the maximum financial impact from the storms will be $NZ3.6 million ($3.4 million) after tax, the company says.

Heavy rain hit much of the country earlier this month as the remains of Cyclone Debbie swept across the Tasman. The wet weather continued when Cyclone Cook formed in Vanuatu and churned southward through New Zealand.

“Cyclone Cook’s impact was not as significant as expected, with about 120 claims received from customers to date,” Tower said.

“While still very early, we do not expect this to be a significant event loss.”

New Zealand has experienced a high number of catastrophes this fiscal year. Tower, which is the takeover target of Suncorp and Canada’s Fairfax, has already reported after-tax profit impacts of $NZ7.2 million ($6.7 million) plus the cost of reinsurance reinstatement for the Kaikoura earthquake, $NZ1 million ($933,600) for the Port Hills fires and $NZ2.6 million ($2.4 million) for the Tasman Tempest storm.