The rain may have finally stopped, but brokers in Saskatchewan are still swamped with clients affected by the recent flooding in the southern section of the province, and dealing with hail damage claims from 2013.
“It has been hectic, to say the least,” says Sandra Sawa, a broker with Henderson Insurance in Regina, Sask. “We are expected to be done doing our initial calls this week on the current flood damage.”
The intense storm system dumped between 100 and 200 millimetres of rain on southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba over the span of a few days last week, causing overland flooding in some places.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall estimates the flooding could cost in excess of $360 million, similar to what it cost in the 2011 flood. However, that figure does not include farm losses, which are certain to be significant and widespread.
The flood has forced evacuations in sections of western Manitoba.
But flooding is just one part of the picture, says Sawa.
Two tornados tore through southeastern Saskatchewan in July of 2013, along with storms that produced heavy rain and hailstones the size of grapefruit.
“We are still getting calls every other day for hail damage claims from 2013,” she told
Insurance Business. “We suffered quite a hail storm last year.”
The weather forecast for the province has sunny skies with highs in the mid-20s for the remainder of the week.
