TORONTO (Reuters) – Massive floods in the Canadian province of British Columbia have dumped a month’s worth of rain in two days, triggering mudslides https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rescuers-with-dogs-start-looking-victims-canada-landslides-2021-11-16 that have destroyed several major roads and killed at least one person.
Insurance loss estimates will not be available for several weeks, but industry experts expect the damages to be significant. Below are the 10 costliest natural disasters in Canada so far:
YEAR INCIDENT,LOCATION DETAILS, INSURED LOSSES
May Wildfires, Fort Wildfires in the oil sands
2016 McMurray, Alberta hub forced the evacuation of some
90,000 residents, shuttered numerous
oil sands operations and cut Canada’s
crude output by more than 1 million
barrels a day. Insured losses: C$3.58
billion ($2.84 billion).
June Floods, southern Massive floods over the eastern slopes
2013 Alberta of the Rocky Mountains caused four
deaths, forced the evacuation of
thousands and shut down Calgary’s
downtown core. Insured losses: C$1.7
billion.
January Ice storms, The storms in southern Quebec and
1998 Ontario, Quebec eastern Ontario killed 35 people and
left millions of people in the two
provinces without power for several
weeks. Insured losses: C$1.3 billion.
June Hailstorm, The storm damaged at least 70,000
2020 Calgary, Alberta homes and vehicles. Insured losses:
C$1.2 billion.
July Floods, Toronto, A heavy rainstorm flooded the city’s
2013 Ontario subway stations, shut down parts of
the public transit network and major
roads and some 300,000 customers lost
power. Insured losses: C$940 million.
May Wildfire, Slave A third of Slave Lake was destroyed by
2011 Lake, Alberta a fire Insured losses were estimated
at C$700 million.
May Windstorm, A storm with wind gusts of over 100
2018 Ontario, Quebec kilometers/hour caused power outages
and damage to buildings and vehicles
and downed trees. Over 925,000 people
across the two provinces were without
power for days. Insured losses: C$680
million
August Tornado, floods, Three tornadoes that hit southern
2005 Toronto and Ontario caused widespread flooding in
southern Ontario Toronto and surrounding areas. Insured
losses: C$625 million
April Ice jams, floods, Ice jams on the Athabasca River raised
2020 Fort McMurray water levels, causing flooding in
low-lying areas. Insured losses: C$562
million
August Hail storm, Hail the size of golf and tennis balls
2014 Airdrie, Alberta caused damage to buildings and
vehicles. Insured losses: C$450
million
Sources: Insurance Bureau of Canada, Public Safety Canada, Can IQ, local media reports
($1 = 1.2591 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting By Nichola Saminather; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
