I guess it really depends on the insurance company (and possibly the persistance of the car owner). I remember a post on here not long ago where an individual had a large tree limb fall on his insight, smash the roof, back hatch, etc...then slid off the side and took out a door...it looked like a large amount of damage. IIRC, the shop wound up cutting the entire roof off the car and welding on another. Quite extensive damage, but the car was repaired.
I guess another factor that would come into play is that with a storm/natural occurrence, I don't know that the ins. co. could raise your rates. But if you crashed the car yourself, they could say it was your fault and boost your rates astronomically...uh...I mean accordingly. It seems like the car would be much more likely to be "totaled" if the ins. co. knew they were going to make the money back in premiums.