‘The devastation is extraordinary’: Mayor Nenshi tours homes damaged by storm
Posted Jun 15, 2020 10:47 am.
Last Updated Jun 16, 2020 6:04 am.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Mayor Naheed Nenshi believes Saturday’s storm could be one of the costliest in recent memory.
Nenshi, speaking at the start of the city council meeting Monday morning, says he toured some of the damaged neighbourhoods in northeast Calgary.
“The devastation is extraordinary. On many streets, the devastation is total. Tens of thousands of homes have been damaged, some potentially beyond repair.”
Nenshi says damage estimates could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars and possibly more than a billion.
WATCH: Wild weather wreaks havoc in Calgary
While exact figures could still be days or weeks away, Celyste Power with the Insurance Bureau of Canada says it’s a shocking scene for Calgarians.
“I’ve spoken to some insurers that are on the ground and it’s devastating, the damage that Calgary homeowners had to wake up to,” says Power.
“Some very significant damages to siding, to vehicles, seeing a lot more than we do from typical hail storms.”
Power suggests if you have damage to your house or vehicle, get it assessed by your insurance provider as soon as possible.
She adds despite many providers offering 24-hour claim services, insurance companies are fielding more calls at this time.
RELATED: Calgarians reflect on intense storm that wreaked havoc across city
Many people waking up & continuing cleanup. Stu let me into his backyard & garage. Everything is destroyed. His car was on the street when the hail started, so it was pelted bad. He's raking & picking up the pieces of his damaged property now. #yyc #Calgary #calgarystorm @660NEWS pic.twitter.com/GfksWXgG0D
— Saif Kaisar (@StaySaif) June 15, 2020
Despite the scenes of broken cars, shredded siding and flooded roads, Power is confident Calgarians will band together to get through it.
“It almost is becoming expected when we go into summer, we’re looking at flooding, hail, fires that we had last summer and, of course, the devastating fires in Fort McMurray,” Power notes.
“Albertans are very resilient, they always come together and we always get through but it is very difficult circumstances and a lot of stress and turmoil for people.”
Nenshi agrees now is the time we look out for one another.
“In the middle of a global pandemic and in the middle of making huge decisions about who we want to be as a city, we also have to remember our first job which is to keep people safe and help people recover and we’re going to have to be doing a lot of work on that.”
