Report: Storm to cost French insurers more than 1 billion euros

The violent storm that slammed into France's Atlantic coast at the weekend will cost French insurance companies more than 1 billion euros (1.36 billion dollars), the daily Le Figaro reported Wednesday.

That figure could still rise further as measure is taken of the full scale of the damage, primarily through flooding, suffered by coastal communities, DPA reported.

Large areas along the coast were declared natural disaster areas by the French government on Tuesday.

At least 52 people died in the storm, most of them by drowning after being surprised in their sleep by the quickly rising waters.

If the estimates are accurate, the cost of the storm will fall well short of that of 1999, which caused 6.9 billion euros worth of damage.