Notley calls for disaster relief as province says it may take some time
Posted Jun 16, 2020 3:11 pm.
Last Updated Jun 16, 2020 4:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Calgarians continue to assess the damage done by Saturday’s devastating hailstorm, which may have caused up to a billion dollars of damage.
On Tuesday, NDP leader Rachel Notley toured the heavily affected community of Saddle Ridge, where it seems like nearly every home was damaged with siding torn off and smashed windows.
Notley said there needs to be disaster relief funding provided by the provincial government, especially when the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is applied.
“There are still questions to be answered in terms of how much of this will be covered by insurance. We are hopeful that most of it will be, but we also know that not everybody has hail insurance and not everybody has full insurance on their vehicles,” she said during a press conference outside a damaged home.
People have already seen a decrease in income due to the pandemic, with some people possibly going with cheaper insurance on their vehicles to save money.
In addition, Notley said the United Conservative Party’s decision to remove a cap on insurance rates means many people were already seeing increased rates before the storm hit.
“When we saw that bump in the insurance and then soon after we went into COVID-19, if anything it resulted in a situation where people were even more likely to not continue with their insurance or to leave themselves underinsured,” she added.
Notley said she has had preliminary conversations with the City of Calgary and Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who said that they will be applying for relief funding as he speculated on Monday that more homes were damaged in this storm than in the 2013 floods.
In response, the provincial government stated that it may not come for some time — if it comes at all.
“The City of Calgary has informally advised that they intend to apply for a Disaster Recovery Program to help cover uninsurable damages and costs. To determine eligibility for a Disaster Recovery Program, hydrologists are analyzing data from the storm, which may require several weeks to complete,” read the statement from a spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu.
“As the Disaster Recovery Program does not cover insurable damages such as wind and hail damage to homes, vehicles and small businesses, those impacted by this event are encouraged to contact their insurance providers. We anticipate that the overwhelming majority of non-public damage (i.e. residential and commercial) will be covered by private insurance.”
But the NDP leader said that the UCP should be holding conversations with insurance companies to make sure there will be proper coverage, and also to address rising rates.
Notley’s press conference drew a crowd of neighbours and they also asked questions, as some are worried about insurance costs after hailstorms have hit them in past years as well.
“Hopefully they will cover everything,” said Balginder Malhi, who added they do have hail coverage in their plan.
“We had another insurance before, this insurance is the first time happening. I don’t know how they are going to do it.”
Another resident saw a severe hailstorm a few years ago as well, and he has seen his insurance rates rise in past years as a result.
“Our insurance goes up like 30 to 40 per cent and usually we have a deductible of $1,000. In 2015, we had a minor hailstorm (and they) increased it to $2,500. Pretty sure they will increase it to $5,000 this time,” Yogesh Jindia said.
He said they have to pay more than double the rates of neighbouring communities and it doesn’t seem fair.
“It’s not in our control,” he said.
Dindia also raised concerns about cloud seeding, and is worried that they are missing the area and that is causing these heavy hailstorms.
Notley said that she will look into the cloud seeding issue and determine if there is some more help that can be offered through that front to help mitigate these storms in the future.
She also added that it is a sign of the times that these storms get more wicked and cause more damage.
“When we started working on our climate change plan,” she said, “we were looking at not only emissions reductions efforts but also adaptation and mitigation. All of those things have to be part of what you look at in terms of looking at the changing rate and pace of environmental-type disaster situations.”
“We must turn our eyes on the fact this is likely going to be a continuing challenge for us, and a growing challenge, over the next many years.”
