Canadian Insurance

• You are here:
• Home
• Special Reports

• Email
• Print
• Text Size
• Recommend

Big Weather. Big Damage.

Canada's Top Weather-Related Stories in 2009

Vancouver, B.C.: Last year was the snowiest winter in 19 years for the typically temperate city of Vancouver. The annual snowfall exceeded the city’s average of 48 cm with more than 110 cm of snow recorded. The snow wreaked havoc on Vancouver, with the city running out of resources by January 2009. Bags of salt and shovels–bought in 2008 for a typical winter–were depleted halfway through the month, with no refills available. As the spring season progressed and ice and snow began to melt, rivers and creeks started to swell and flood, causing mudslides and washing out roads.

Calgary, AB: More than 1,500 crop damage claims were filed thanks to a monster hailstorm in August 2009. Baseball sized hail left their mark on buildings throughout the city, injured cattle and destroyed crops. More than 600,000 hectares of Alberta’s farmlands were destroyed. Parts of the city and some surrounding towns, such as Carstairs, are still in the process of rebuilding. Though an isolated event, the storm is easily one of Canada’s worst disasters with damages recorded at more than half a billion.

Atlantic Canada: Experienced its wettest summer last year. Precipitation levels were at a record high of 42% higher than normal. In Sydney, N.S., it rained 456 mm from June to August 2009; it rained only 273 mm the previous summer. Saint John, N.B., had the wettest July on record with 195 cm–almost twice its normal summer water levels. According to Insurance Bureau of Canada, last year was one of the most expensive years for insurers in the Maritime provinces.

Manitoba: Experienced a record rainfall last fall with 43% more precipitation than a normal autumn in the province. This situation was exasperated in the coming winter months when Manitoba experienced one of their snowiest winters with 25% more snowfall than average. The mixture of heavy autumn rain and excessive winter snow caused the second highest flood levels on Manitoba’s Red River in 100 years and waterlogged farm fields across the province–one of the nation’s largest farming disasters in recent years. Farmers reported close to 170,000 hectares of farmland could not be seeded due to excessive moisture. The entire situation cost carriers $21.5 million in claims.

Southwestern Ontario: A large storm cell hovered over Hamilton, ON, last summer with the Hamilton Airport reporting 28 mm of rain. In total the city recorded 109 mm of rainfall in just 180 minutes. The downpour flooded Red Hill Creek, leaving motorists stuck on flooded streets. The flood also closed roads, flooded 7,000 basements, and caused power outages throughout the city. This one summer storm cost the industry nearly $300 million.