“This wildfire, and the damage it caused, is more alarming evidence that extreme weather events have increased in both frequency and severity in Canada”, Don Forgeron, IBC’s president, said in the statement. But Fort McMurray, where more than 2,400 properties were destroyed, represents an “unprecedented challenge”.
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People have since been allowed back into their homes, but it took almost two months before the state of emergency was lifted.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada puts the damage at $3.58 billion.
Adams said the flood caused $6 billion in damages, but due to a lack of coverage, insurance providers were only forced to pay out $1.7 billion, leaving government agencies to grapple with the remaining costs.
The previous costliest natural disaster on record was a 2013 Southern Alberta flood, which cost C$1.7 billion in insurance claims, IBC said. There are more than 5,000 commercial insurance claims that averaging over C$250,000 per claim.
Multiple oilsands companies had to shut down their operations during the fire as it raged out of control.
Adams said the insurance industry will announce as early as next week a program to help remove debris from burned-out neighbourhoods, a similar initiative to the co-ordinated disposal of fridges and freezers tainted by rotting food as Fort McMurray residents returned to the city last month.
While the cost has not been totaled yet, the fire will “probably” be Canada’s all-time most expensive wildfire to fight, said Marc Mousseau of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Officials have said the wildfire destroyed about 10 per cent of the town, turning the communities of Beacon Hill, Waterways and Abasand into rubble.
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“What impact this will have will be determined at a later date by individual insurers”.
