The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is estimating damage caused by November windstorms in southern Alberta to be at least $200 million.
That amount is a preliminary estimate reported by Property Claim Services Canada (PCS-Canada), a service that tracks insured losses arising from catastrophic events in Canada.
Data collected by PCS-Canada confirms that thousands of claims have been filed for damage to homes, cars and businesses in the wake of the storm.
In the Rocky View county region, trees and power lines were felled and siding and shingles were torn off of buildings by winds reaching speeds close to 100 km/h. The worst damage was in Beiseker, where the corrugated metal roof of the firehall was ripped off the building.
Sheriff Jason Graw said the Airdrie Integrated Traffic Unit attended three scenes where semi trucks were blown over along Highway 2 between 12:15 and 2 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
The RCMP responded to 11 wind-related calls between noon and 5 p.m., including traffic hazards like signs blowing onto the highway in the area.
ìThankfully, there were no serious injuries, and insurance should cover most of the damage,î said Doug Noble, IBCís Alberta Vice-President.
ìFollowing the storm, IBC told affected consumers to contact their insurance representatives as soon as possible to start the claims process.î
Noble added, ìthere is no doubt that we are seeing more and more the impact of severe weather in Alberta.î
In summer 2011, a storm that pummelled Calgary and parts of southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba with golf-ball-sized hail resulted in $185 million of insured damage.
In summer 2010, another storm in Alberta resulted in $500 million in insured damage while deadly windstorms that rolled across the province in summer 2009 resulted in $360 million of insured damage.
Fires that destroyed much of Slave Lake in May of 2011 amounted to more than $700 million in insured damage, making it the second most costly insured disaster in Canadian history, after the ice storm that hit Quebec and Ontario in 1998, which cost more than $1.8 billion.
Over the past three years, Alberta insurers have paid out about $2 billion in damages resulting from five disasters.
If consumers have questions, they are urged to contact their brokers, agents or insurance company representatives, or IBCís Consumer Information Centre in Alberta at 1-800-377-6378. For more information, visit www.pcs-canada.com
