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The pair of tornadoes that ripped through the Ottawa-Gatineau region at the end of September have left their mark on neighbourhoods in the cities, leading the Ontario government to pitch in more than $1.5 million in funding to assist in post-tornado clean-up.
“It’s been a difficult time because some people have small losses and others lost everything,” said Brian Erwin, president of the Ottawa Insurance Brokers Association (OIBA), and advisor and broker at Currey Insurance Agencies, adding that one client’s car was destroyed by shingles that came flying off the roof of a house. “I’ve been communicating with other people on our [OIBA] board and they’ve been hit with a lot of claims as well.” Meanwhile, restoration companies are tapped out because there are so many damaged properties, according to the broker.
Since the tornadoes, Erwin and the Currey Insurance team have been communicating to clients to, even if they have less damage, take a photo of it, get a contractor in to fix it, and keep the receipts for filing a claim. Insureds need to know that they have to mitigate the loss and make sure no other damage occurs.
“In some of the places, they were in there putting temporary roofs on [buildings] and tarps,” he said. “We can’t get into some of the areas – streets are blocked off.”
The tornadoes caught many people off guard, and quickly turned from bad to worse.
“There was a storm warning coming into Ottawa. From my office, I can see downtown and the sky was dark, and then you could see a little bit of rain starting and then all of a sudden, our power went out at 5:03 and then the rain came,” explained Erwin. “All the streetlights were out, like four-way stops. It was just mayhem, some places looked like a warzone – houses, fences, pools thrown all over.”
There’s not much that brokers can advise clients to do to prepare for a tornado event, except ensure they have insurance and know what’s covered.
“We are risk managers and a lot of clients do not see stuff like this coming because the first thing they’d say is, ‘a tornado is coming, am I covered?’” said Erwin, though wind is one of the staples of insurance coverage for properties, while for auto insurance, a tree falling on a car would be considered impact by an object, which is also covered if an insured has comprehensive coverage.
Because of the number of people affected by the tornadoes, other businesses have also been strained.
“This has stressed some of our suppliers, [such as] rental vehicles. One of our brokers at our office had to search through three of four Enterprise locations to find a vehicle for a client that had theirs hit by a tree,” said Erwin, adding that Ottawa and Gatineau are no strangers to natural catastrophes. “They’re becoming more frequent.”
