Canada's Insurance Bureau CEO Calls For National Flood Program - 2013 Flood #1 In Cost @ $6 Billion
The head of the Insurance Bureau of Canada called Thursday for governments and industry to create a national flood program to deal with the growing costs of destruction from weather events spurred by climate change.
“There is tremendous value in a more collaborative approach between the private sector and different levels of government to solve a problem that has been growing in frequency and severity,” said Don Forgeron, president and CEO of the national insurance industry association, before a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Edmonton.
“You just go back to the 2013 floods here in Alberta — the largest insured loss in Canadian history, one of the largest natural disasters in Canadian history. A national flood program, we believe, would offer a much more mature, comprehensive and disciplined way to compensate people as a result of damage from flood.”
Floods that swept across much of Alberta in 2013 cost more than $6 billion. Water has replaced fire as Canada’s No. 1 cause of home insurance losses by a wide margin, Forgeron said. In 2009, water accounted for 40 per cent of claims, followed by fire at 29 per cent and wind at 16 per cent, IBC figures sow. The insurance industry predicts the frequency of severe weather events will only get worse because a warmer atmosphere holds more water and unleashes larger and more frequent storms.
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http://edmontonjournal.com/business/local-business/national-flood-program-needed-because-of-climate-change-edmonton-audience-hears
