The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has reported that an early April storm, which tracked across the Eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec, has resulted in over CAD $85 million (USD $66 million) in insured losses.
This figure also brings the total insured losses from severe weather damage over the past twelve months to over half a billion dollars in Ontario alone.
The latest April storm brought severe rain, heavy snow, and damaging winds to the affected areas, leaving over 145,000 homes and businesses without power and destroying a home development in the Niagara region.
The storm also created poor driving conditions that resulted in car collisions across Quebec and Ontario, including a 50-car pile-up on Highway 400 in Barrie, Ontario.
The majority of the damage occurred in Ontario, with most of the insurance claims filed for damage to homes.
The spring season in eastern Canada has been particularly harsh this year, and IBC expects other adverse weather events to affect the region over the coming weeks.
Craig Stewart, Vice-President of Federal Affairs at IBC, said: “Insured losses from storms such as these are increasing rapidly. However this is only part of the picture. Taxpayers are also bearing the brunt of these costs since many losses are uninsured.
“We are witnessing more frequent, intense storms which we now know are attributable to climate change. The present costs of climate change are real which is why urgent action is needed on adaptation as well as mitigation.”
Ontario has been hit by a series of particularly severe weather events over the last twelve months, including floods, windstorms and winter storms, resulting in more than CAD $500 million in re/insured damages.
The windstorm which hit Hamilton and Niagara in March 2017 and the Windsor area flooding in August 2017 were by far the most costly of these events, causing around $100 million and $160 million in damages respectively.
