Canada’s insurance industry is renewing calls for governments to invest in flood protection after severe storms and flooding across Canada caused more than $1.1 billion in insured damage in June.
Insurers estimate the June 9 and 10 storms in Manitoba and Saskatchewan caused more than $728 million in insured losses, while flooding in Montreal and surrounding communities on June 20 and 21 caused more than $409 million in damage.
The preliminary estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. come after a month of severe weather that brought tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, torrential rain and flash flooding across the affected regions.
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In Regina, one of the hardest-hit communities, a powerful hailstorm damaged thousands of vehicles and homes.
Saskatchewan Government Insurance said it received more than 10,000 auto claims and 800 property claims after the June 9 storm, with preliminary damage estimates nearing $80 million.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada said the latest figures highlight the rising financial and human toll of flooding across the country and need for governments to invest in measures that reduce flood risk.
“Flood risk is no longer a future challenge… it is a current reality affecting Canadians from coast to coast,” Liam McGuinty, the bureau’s vice-president of federal affairs, said in the release.
The bureau is calling on governments to strengthen land-use planning by limiting development in high-risk flood plains, invest in flood-resilient and storm-water infrastructure, strengthen building codes and expand programs that help homeowners reduce flood damage.
According to the bureau, flood and water-related insured losses have increased more than 300 per cent over the last 20 years compared with the previous two decades.
Since 2009, insurers have paid an average of more than $2 billion annually in catastrophic weather-related claims.
“Flooding is Canada’s costliest and most pervasive climate risk,” McGuinty said. “Insurance alone cannot solve Canada’s flood problem.”
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