Ontario Storm Tops $80 million in Insured Damages

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2012 /CNW/ - Over a two day period (July 22 and 23) a band of powerful thunderstorms left a path of damage across parts of Ontario. The damage stretched from Hamilton and its surrounding areas to the Ottawa region. The storm spawned fierce winds, heavy rains, flash flooding, up to golf ball sized hail and a couple unconfirmed reports of tornadoes touching down.

Insured damages incurred from the path of the storm are estimated at $80 million.   This 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 confirm that claims have been filed for damage to homes, cars and businesses in the wake of the storm.

The storm caused power outages south west of Ottawa and Nepean, there were also fallen trees, downed traffic lights and power lines, and property damage to homes and businesses. There are reports of homes sustaining roof damage, hail damaging automobiles, broken windows and trees falling on homes and businesses.

Ralph Palumbo, IBC's vice president for Ontario, says we should not be surprised to see more of these types of storms in the future.   "In June, IBC released Telling the Weather Story: Can Canada Manage the Storms Ahead? -- a research report which projects future weather trends across Canada.   For Ontario, the report projected that between now and 2050; there would be warmer summers, more heavy precipitation, more flash flooding and warming conditions which will lead to very large increases in the occurrence of wildfires, from 50% - 500% with the largest increases seen in Northern Ontario."

If consumers have insurance related questions, they are urged to contact their brokers, agents or insurance company representatives, or IBC's Consumer Information Centre in Ontario at 1-800-387-2880.

Data about insured damage is from PCS-Canada. Subscribers to the PCS-Canada service can access detailed reports by logging on to www.pcs-canada.com.

About Insurance Bureau of Canada
Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national industry association representing Canada's private home, car and business insurers. Its member companies represent 90% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. The P&C insurance industry employs over 114,000 Canadians, pays more than $7 billion in taxes to the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and has a total premium base of $40 billion.

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SOURCE: INSURANCE BUREAU OF CANADA

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