PCS estimates $230 million in insured damage from July storms in Alberta, Saskatchewan: IBC

Storms three weeks ago in Alberta and Saskatchewan caused more than $230 million in insured damage, Insurance Bureau of Canada reported Thursday.

IBC quoted the preliminary estimate from Property Claims Services (PCS), a unit of Jersey City, N.J.-based Verisk Analytics Inc. IBC said the $230 million estimate is of insured damages “caused by the heavy rains, wind and a hailstorm that swept across parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan on July 21 and 22.”

During that storm, “a tornado was sighted north of Priddis,” southwest of Calgary. Hail the size of golf balls was reported in Calgary while “nickel-sized hail was reported near Water Valley and Cochrane,” IBC reported.

Related: Prairie storm in June tops $45 million in insured damage, CatIQ preliminary estimate shows

“Wind gusts up to 154 km/hr were reported in Hussar, Pollockville and Cereal,” IBC added. “In Saskatchewan, strong winds brought down trees and utility poles in Regina.”

Six weeks earlier, storms caused insured damages of more than $45 million in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, IBC reported earlier, quoting from preliminary estimates by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ). On June 12, storms brought hail and wind – with gusts of more than kilometres per hour – to the west.

Related: June storm in Ontario tops $30 million in insured damage: IBC

Then on June 22, parts of the Toronto and London areas were hit by floods, with IBC quoting CatIQ as issuing a preliminary estimate of $30 million in insured damage. Commercial properties affected by that weather system included London’s White Oaks Mall.

In the July 21-22 storms, there was “significant damage due to downed trees” in Kerrobert, about 200 kilometres west of Saskatoon, IBC reported Aug. 13. Hail the size of golf balls and rainfall at a rate of up to 300 millimetres per hour was also reported.

“In recent years, we’ve seen first-hand the impact that storms can have,” stated Bill Adams, IBC’s vice president of the pacific and western region, in a release. “Extreme weather events have been happening more often and with greater force.”