The recent thunderstorm event which brought hail and flooding to parts of Calgary will cost around $1 billion in damage across both houses and vehicles, according to estimates.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi pegged the costs of the severe weather event at around $1 billion based on the considerable damage caused. Even Nenshi’s own house was not spared from the storm, and he stated that the siding on his property was riddled with holes.
Northeast Calgary has also taken stock of the storm’s damage.
“I’ve never seen so much damage within a block of homes,” said Councillor George Chahal of Ward 5. “Siding shredded, eavestroughs, downspouts damaged and broken. I think every car on the block had windows broken. Severe damage, hail damage to the vehicles and everybody was out in the street cleaning up.”
Chahal noted that there were around 20,000 homes affected by the storm. He added that every car that was parked out on the street on June 13 “is probably a write-off” due to the hail.
In terms of specific communities, Chahal said that the community of Saddleridge was one of the hardest hit. So much hail fell in that neighborhood, that “it looked like [the community] got hit by a snowstorm,” the councillor stated. In Martindale, the area became what Chahal called “lakefront property” due to heavy flooding.
“In Ward 5, every community, every block has been impacted,” the councillor said.
“The northern communities of Cornerstone, Redstone, Cityscape, you could see blocks of cars just damaged, broken, I’ve never seen that in my life, being born and raised in the city of Calgary.”
CBC News reported that Calgary hosted a meeting on June 20 for those who suffered damage from the storm event. The meeting allowed homeowners to ask any questions about what to do following the disaster.
