Alberta's severe weather causes costly damage

Severe weather across the country led to Canadians filing $3.2 billion in insurance claims for damages, with three of the most expensive events taking place in Alberta.

Hail in Calgary, flooding in Fort Mcmurray and storms in central and southern Alberta were the first, second and third most expensive severe weather events in terms of insurance claims, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).

A hailstorm in the province's largest city last June led to $1.3 billion in insurance claims.

That was followed up by flooding in Fort Mcmurray in April and May that led to $562 million worth of claims and storms across the central and southern part of the province throughout July and August that saw people claim $221 million worth of damage.

The next closest weather event from outside the province came when rain and snowstorms battered southern Ontario and Quebec causing $98 million in damages.

Craig Stewart, vice-president of federal affairs with IBC, said Canadians will continue to see rising costs from severe weather damage due to climate change.

“For all of (the federal government's) work on reducing future climate threats, too little attention is being paid to the losses Canadians are facing today,” said Stewart in a news release.

Numbers provided by IBC show Alberta, and Fort Mcmurray in particular, bear the brunt of Canada's severe weather in recent years. On top of the flooding last spring that residents continue to recover from, Fort Mcmurray was ravaged by a wildfire in 2016 that destroyed thousands of homes and racked up billions of dollars in damages.