Severe weather causes millions in damage across Prairies

The Prairie provinces were slammed by severe weather this summer, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses and vehicles.

Numbers released by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. show property owners in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were hit hard by storms between June and August.

Around $80 million in insurance claims were made following a thunderstorm in early August that left one Manitoba man dead.

Hail, high winds and heavy rain hit Calgary on Aug. 1 and stuck around for days, “causing significant auto and property damage.”

That same storm also helped spawn a deadly tornado which touched down in Alonsa, Man.

The twister, which Environment Canada classified as an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, killed a 77-year-old retired teacher and destroyed buildings and vehicles.

A mid-June storm in Saskatchewan and Manitoba caused around $90 million in insured damage, and another $30 million in claims were made following severe thunderstorms in Alberta and Saskatchewan on July 13 and 14.

The bureau says newer vehicles damaged by hail compound the costs and claims because of “advanced technologies that are far more expensive to repair” compared to older cars and trucks.

Celyeste Power, western vicepresident of IBC, said these numbers “are only part of the picture,” adding taxpayers end up paying for a portion of uninsured losses through disaster financial assistance programs as severe weather becomes more common.

“We are witnessing more frequent, intense storms and it is urgent that provinces and communities take concrete steps — such as improving land use planning and changing building codes — to adapt to severe weather events,” she said.

Between May and October last year, IBC says storms and extreme weather caused more than $260 million in insured damage across the Prairies.