The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the summer of 2024 has become Canada's most destructive season on record for insured losses, says an Insurance Bureau of Canada report.
A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the damages from a series of storms and wildfires across the country have resulted in more than $7-billion in insured losses, surpassing the $6.2-billion cost of the Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfire in 2016. This amount is 10 times higher than the average of $701-million per year for severe weather losses between 2001 and 2010, as stated in the report. IBC president Celyeste Power said, "This has been a devastating summer for hundreds of thousands of Canadians." She added that wildfires in Jasper, Alta., flooding in Southern Ontario and Quebec, and an Alberta hailstorm resulted in about 228,000 insurance claims, which is up 406 per cent compared with a two-decade average. In Quebec, flooding caused $2.5-billion in insured damage, while flooding in Toronto and Southern Ontario cost $940-million. In Alberta, Calgary's hailstorm resulted in $2.8-billion in losses, and Jasper wildfires saw insured losses of $880-million. All these severe weather events occurred in July and August.
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