The insured damages bill for the vicious storms that hit Perth and the southern centre of Bunbury last week has reached $26.7 million. More than 10,000 claims have already been filed.

Insurance Disaster Response Organisation (IDRO) WA Co-ordinator Daryl Cameron told Sunrise Exchange News the damages bill is still growing, but it’s “within the industry’s capabilities”.

He says the pace of claims has started to slow down, but there is still high demand for tradespeople.

“The insurers have directed additional resources to claims assessment and claims handling to ensure that policyholders are being assisted as quickly as possible,” he said.

On the other side of the country, hundreds of homes and businesses in and around Brisbane were damaged when two bouts of thunderstorms brought hail with them.

The storms – described as “once in a lifetime” by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology – cut power to more than 7000 homes and caused up to $4.5 million in damage.

IDRO Queensland Co-ordinator Graham Jones says the hailstones were small and mainly caused water and blockage problems. “There was some dent damage caused by the hailstones, but not a lot,” he said. “More damage occurred when the stones melted and caused water damage.”