Insane Winter Weather Leads To $3.2 Billion Insurance Payout
The year 2013 provided some insane weather events not just for the United States, but also in Canada where their wild winter weather led to an insane record breaking insurance payout of $3.2 billion. The weather throughout Canada was full of wild natural disasters, some of which would seem like normal storms, but these caused severe damage.
Canada’s Huge Insurance Payout According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, four previous years of weather disaster’s insurance payouts totaled $1 billion – therefore making 2013 a drastic change. A majority of the natural disasters were from flooding due to severe rainfall – the most expensive payout being from the flooding that took place in southern Alberta in June totaling $1.74 billion in insurance payouts, all according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC)
The IBC also took note of the other events that made up a majority of the record breaking payout: ●
Severe flooding that took place in Toronto $940 million in damages
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Ice Storms in Ontario $200 million in damages
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Two waves of thunderstorms in Quebec $250 million in damages
The severe flooding that took place in Toronto was the most expensive natural disaster that the city has ever seen. The CEO of the IBC, Don Forgeron, made a statement where he said,
“Canadian communities are seeing more severe weather, especially more intense rainfall. This overburdens our sewer and stormwater infrastructure, resulting in more sewer backups in homes and businesses.”
Actual damages from the severe flooding in Colorado. These natural disasters that took place in Canada this past year are very reflective of the flooding that took place in Colorado where entire roads were wiped away and temporary bridges had to be installed. There were a lot of issues with flooding from flooding throughout the Midwest this past year in the United States, even in Idaho where entire farms had been washed away, some of which supply nationally. The most that insurance companies can do is reacting in a quick and effective matter to work on fixing any damages before they become larger issues. Forgeron also stated that the property and causality insurers throughout Canada are working with all three levels of the government to help Canadians adjust and adapt to the new weather realities they are facing.