Toll from Quebec and Ontario ice storms…so far

About 5,300 Hydro-Québec customers remain without power as of 11:30 a.m. Friday, following an ice storm that swept through Québec and parts of Ontario Wednesday and into Thursday, according to data from the utility. At the outage’s peak, 200,000 customers were without power.

Sidewalks and some roads remained ice covered in the province and Québec’s premier advised residents to stay at home if possible. Environment Canada issued an orange alert for the storm on Wednesday when 20 to 30 mm of ice accumulation were predicted. Southeastern Ontario communities affected by the ice storm experienced snow as a follow-up punch on Thursday, according to the Weather Network.

On the claims side, so far, so good, say adjusting firms contacted by Canadian Underwriter. Claims linked to the ice storms are described as “limited.”

For Ontario, Shannon Hoyt, ClaimsPro’s vice president for Central Canada, says recent claims activity has mainly been linked to recent warmer weather and resulting snow melt, as opposed to the ice storm itself.

“This past weekend brought rain to many areas in Ontario, melting the snow that has been accumulating for months,” she says. “We did experience a slightly elevated claims volume as a result, but not at catastrophic levels. The predicted ice storm for parts of Ontario did not cause any increase in volume.”

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And in Québec, recent claims reports are also linked to the March warming trend as opposed to the ice storm, says IndemniPro’s vice president for Québec, Sonia Ryme.

“The minor ice storm did not significantly impact us,” she tells CU. “We received some claims, but they were mostly related to the mild weather last weekend rather than the ice storm.”

Crawford also says claims, so far, appear light.

“While portions of Ontario and Quebec did experience the effects of this week’s weather, early indications suggest that the claims impact has been limited and our partners have not reported any significant increase in claim volume attributed to the event,” William Slade, Crawford’s vice president, National Property and Contractor Connection, tells us.  

“As with all weather events, we expect claim activity to continue to develop over the coming days and we continue to monitor closely.”

Looking at catastrophe response, Christine Segaric, ClaimsPro’s director of Cat response, says the industry is monitoring the situation since impacts from ice storms can emerge following the event. So far, the storm hasn’t required any formal catastrophe deployment.

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“With ice storms, the impacts don’t always show up immediately,” she tells CU. “Damage from falling branches or ice accumulation often becomes apparent once the ice begins to melt and homeowners start assessing their properties.”

She adds efforts are being made to ensure resources are available to insureds if they’re needed.

Phil Porado

Phil, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in financial topics, has been managing editor of Canadian Underwriter for more than three years.