A snow squall event that brought heavy snow and strong winds to parts of Canada is expected to cause “significant” amounts of damage, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) warned.
According to IBC spokesperson Vanessa Barrasa, insurers are still assessing the damage caused by the severe weather event last week, which impacted the areas of BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.
“After a storm like this, insurers are surveyed and typically a month later we release the insured losses. It often takes days or weeks before claims are submitted,” Barrasa told Edmonton Journal.
IBC also said that it expects to have an initial estimate of damage claims by next month.
The bureau noted in a previous statement that Alberta experienced three of the costliest severe weather events in Canada last year. Flooding in Fort McMurray between April 26 and May 03, 2020 resulted in $562 million in insured damages. In June 13, a hailstorm led to $1.3 billion in damages, and storms that hit the central and southern Alberta regions in July and August caused $221 in damages.
Strong winds generated by the weather event led to downed power lines and fallen tree branches, Edmonton Journal reported. Epcor crews said that about 20,000 customers in Edmonton had lost power following the squall. Edmonton director of infrastructure operations Phillip Herritt confirmed that the city received 119 notifications for fallen trees and branches.
