Tornado Clean-Up, Damage Tally, Continues in Ontario

Terri Goveia | Aug 28, 2009

Clean up crews have picked up the downed trees and debris, and restoration crews have moved in to repair roofs and siding—but roughly a week after several tornadoes truck Ontario, insurers are still piecing together a full picture of the damages.

Adjusters and restoration experts are still tallying up the cost of damages to homes, businesses and vehicles in different parts of the province. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) likely won’t have a final number on claims or damages for weeks, according to Julia Gajewski, the bureau’s public relations coordinator. But it’s expected to be high: over 600 homes were damaged in Vaughan, Ontario; and over 55 farm, residential and business properties in Durham, Ontario, sustained extensive damage-- according to a Municipality of West Grey update, “some are now uninhabitable.”

Claims coming into various insurers are already in the millions. At State Farm Insurance, storm-related property claims have already reached $3 million, according to Pete Karageorgos, the company’s spokesman. Most of the claims—275—are property claims, while 23 relate to auto damage, he said.

Since the storms hit, Aviva Canada Inc. has received over 400 claims. Those—a mix of personal and commercial claims—range from auto damage from a felled tree to severe roof damage, says Glenn Cooper, senior manager, public relations. Although the bulk of the claims are coming from the hardest hit areas in Durham and in Vaughan, he points out that they are also getting twister-related claims from across Ontario. “The rest of the province got hit with heavy rainstorms.”

At present, a similar tally isn’t yet available at Intact Insurance, and at press time, the Co-operators hadn’t responded to queries.

In the Durham, Ontario, area, local broker Dennis Graham has received over 70 claims at Secure Insurance Solutions Group, Inc.  But Graham, the brokerage’s president and CEO, and member of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario’s (IBAO) board of directors, found himself in the eye of the storm when it hit his house, and seriously damaged neighbouring properties. “We were right in the middle of it,” he said.

Hardest hit in the area: garages, outbuildings and an industrial park housing a printing business, a veterinary clinic, an auto repair shop and a community activities centre. Soon after the storm passed, Graham and his staff gathered in his brokerage, and with the help of emergency lighting and cell phones, they contacted policyholders offering help. “[People] and businesses really aren’t prepared for something like this,” he said, noting that going forward, brokers may want to stress tornado preparedness to policyholders. “It’s a great opportunity to educate clients. Most people really don’t know what to do,” he said.

Graham said that while the clean-up was progressing—thanks to helpful neighbours and volunteers—“it’s going to take awhile.”