Total insured damage from extreme weather in Canada reaches $1.9 billion

Thanks to storms in British Columbia that hit the province at the end of December, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has reported that the total insured damage from extreme weather has now reached $1.9 billion for 2018, using loss data from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.

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Windstorms that slammed the southern coast of BC on December 20 resulted in more than $37 million in insured damage to over 3,000 homes, along with vehicles and businesses, according to IBC, and left more than 750,000 Hydro customers in the province without power. Large trees and hydro poles were knocked down across Vancouver Island, the southern Gulf Islands, the Sunshine Coast and the Lower Mainland. Winds also caused boats to damage the pier in White Rock, and a state of emergency was declared for the Tseshaht First Nation because of flooding and strong winds.

Other major weather events in 2018 included the Ottawa-Gatineau tornadoes, which caused nearly $300 million in insured damage, and summer storms in the Prairies that caused more than $200 million in insured damage. Considering the steep price of extreme weather events and a changing climate, IBC continues to work with governments across the country to advocate for increased investment to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather in the future, and make communities more resilient to its damaging effects.