Residents in north Calgary neighbourhoods are continuing to pick up the pieces after Monday’s hail storm which tore through several communities, creating a pile of insurance claims and headaches around the area.
The storm — the second major hail event to blow through the region in four years — has made some residents weary and considering significant changes to avoid future damage.
Clean-up from the storm continued Sunday morning off Country Hills Boulevard, where the City of Calgary set up a free garbage collection site to help clean out the damage incurred a week prior. While the temporary dump was created to help hail-affected households, many visitors Sunday morning used the site to get rid of garbage and metal unrelated to the storm.
Nonetheless, north Calgary residents like Krunal Patel, who visited the site on Sunday to dispose of garbage accumulated during a recent basement renovation, said damage caused by the most recent storm was lighter than the 2020 hail storm which caused a cumulative $1.3 billion in insurable damages — the fourth most costly natural disaster in Canadian history at the time.
When the clouds disappeared in the 2020 storm, Patel found his car’s front and back windshield and sunroof had been smashed through.
This time around, his car shows less damage. While his front hood and roof are dented, the windows remain intact and he’s still able to drive it. Patel estimates it’ll cost $10,000 to repair his car and another $25,000 to cover the damage incurred to the exterior of his home.
“I got a new car after (2020),” Patel said outside his dinged-up vehicle Sunday morning.
‘I think everyone’s premiums are going to go up’
Amrinder Bath, a north Calgary resident, is meanwhile considering retrofitting the exterior of his house with stucco to save his home from the next hail storm, whenever it arrives next. Though more costly, Bath said doing so would likely lower his insurance premium, which he expects will increase in the wake of the most recent storm.
His insurance company also offers a $2,500 incentive to get high-end, impact-resistant shingles, he said. Bath has lived through three major hail storms: one in 2016, the next in 2020 and the latest on Monday.
“I’m scared because last time my deductible was $1,000. This year, it’s $2,500. I think everyone’s premiums are going to go up,” he said.
With swaths of the surrounding neighbourhood bearing wounds from the storm, Bath expects repairs will take about a year to complete as contractors’ schedules likely stretch thin and neighbours compete for the speediest repairs.
Bath also hopes the city and province consider stepping up to the plate with incentives for neighbourhoods to future-proof themselves from the next storm. The city does not currently offer programs to residents looking to replace their damaged rooftops with stronger materials. In 2020, the city provided $3.25 million in rebates to Calgarians replacing their roofs with stronger materials.
Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, whose ward encompasses many of the communities struck by hail earlier in the week, is looking to revive the conversation, he told Postmedia earlier in the week.
Zubair Tariq, communications and community liaison for Dhaliwal, said many of the people affected in the north Calgary communities are newcomers who’ve only recently settled into the city.
“It hurts to see your house that you just (bought) get hit with hail … Many people have suffered this before and they’re getting tired,” he said.
The city will be hosting another free drive-in junk drop-off on Sept. 1, Tariq said.
— With files from Scott Strasser
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