Insurance losses from Cyclone Dovi, which traversed a swathe of New Zealand in February, have totalled $NZ44.43 million ($40.9 million) based on provisional claims.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) says claims were received from Northland down to the South Island district of Buller, and arose from a mix of flood and storm damage.

The 8767 claims lodged include 6768 for home and contents, 1237 for commercial material damage, 636 for motor vehicles, 47 for marine losses, 23 for business interruption/loss of profits and 56 other claims.

The losses follow a record $NZ324.1 million ($298.7 million) in general insurance pay-outs for extreme weather events last year.

ICNZ says insurance figures don’t include other costs to the country from running evacuations, cleaning up after slips and wash-outs or repairing roads and other infrastructure, while much of the damage to farmland and crops or wider social and environmental costs is also not included.

“We know from what we are seeing across Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the world, that climate-driven extreme weather events are becoming both more frequent and severe,” CEO Tim Grafton said.

Action is needed to reduce emissions and to look at how to reduce the risks to homes, business and communities, he says.

“This means investing to make them more resilient, for instance by looking at floor levels, construction techniques and not building in flood prone areas, as well as investing in community scale works to protect infrastructure and prevent widespread flooding,” he said.