The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared a catastrophe for severe storms in SA and may widen the declaration to include wild winds that toppled trees this morning in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Insurers have received more than 12,000 claims so far for the SA storms, which brought large hail, rain and strong winds, and the number is expected to rise over coming days.

“It’s too early to understand the extent of the damage to property and crops in affected areas or to estimate the insurance damage bill,” CEO Andrew Hall said.

Most claims are from policyholders from areas including the Barossa Valley, Elizabeth, the Adelaide Hills, Salisbury, Craigmore and surrounds.

Motor claims represent about two thirds of those lodged, while it is expected Barossa Valley region crop losses will be substantial.

ICA says insurers anticipate the need to deploy up to 80 specialist assessors and recovery personnel from interstate, but restrictions could include prohibiting entry altogether or having to quarantine for 14 days.

“The industry is facing constraints deploying staff into SA due to the state’s border arrangements and is engaging with the State Government to ensure this does not slow the assessment and repair process,” Mr Hall said.

The severe weather brought 96 km/h wind gusts at Adelaide Airport while golf-ball-sized hail affected horticultural growers and wineries, the Bureau of Meteorology says. The State Emergency Service (SES) responded to around 1300 incidents.

The cold front and low-pressure system caused more damage as it moved into Victoria and intensified rapidly overnight, with trees crashing over as parts of Melbourne experienced the strongest October winds for a decade.

Wind gusts reached 122 km/h at Frankston beach and 119 km/h at Melbourne airport early today, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Hundreds of thousands of homes were left without power.

The SES responded to more than 2500 calls across the state, with the Frankston, Ballarat, Whitehorse, Northcote and Broadmeadows units the busiest in responding to calls.

“The damage across VIC today is staggering, with VICSES receiving 622 requests for assistance for building damage in the last 24 hours,” the SES said on Twitter.

ICA says it is continuing to monitor the impact of the storms and strong winds in Victoria to ascertain whether the catastrophe declaration should be widened to include impacted areas in the state.

Allianz Australia says as of 2:30pm it had received over 4000 claims with estimated losses of around $16 million as a result of the storms in SA and Victoria.

“We are continuing to actively monitor the situation and expect claim numbers to continue to rise over the coming days,” a spokeswoman said. “To help support those impacted we have deployed additional resources.”

IAG says it has received 1100 claims as a result of the Victorian wind event, mostly from Sunbury, Frankston and Craigieburn areas.

“Our claim teams and network of repairers across our brands are out on the ground ensuring our customers’ properties are safe and secure and will assess property damage, so repairs can begin as soon as possible,” a spokeswoman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The Bureau of Meteorology this afternoon warned of conditions conducive for damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain in northeast NSW and southern Queensland, advising that “high-end supercell activity” can’t be ruled out.

“It’s been a wild 24-hours across parts of southeast Australia, and the focus now shifts to NSW and Queensland heading into the weekend,” Meteorologist Jonathan How said.