The councillor representing northeast Calgary is hoping the province and perhaps the city can come to the aid of residents hit hard by last month’s devastating hailstorm.

It comes as the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) said Wednesday that preliminary estimates peg insured damage caused by the Aug. 5 storm at nearly $2.8 billion. They said it’s the second costliest event in Canada’s history behind the Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016.

The estimate was calculated by the Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc (CatIQ), for the IBC. They said there are more than 130,000 claim reported from that hailstorm.

“Catastrophic weather has hit our province hard this year and the impact on Calgary residents from this summer’s hailstorm is unprecedented,” said Aaron Sutherland, Vice-President, Western and Pacific, IBC, in a media release put out Wednesday.

The IBC said that Calgary has seen several “catastrophic hailstorms,” including in 2020 and 2021, causing $1.2 billion and $700 million in damage, respectively. 

They said it’s important that governments reinvest in programs like Calgary’s resilient roofing rebate to improve resistance to weather-related events.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said that post-storm he immediately began asking questions of City of Calgary administration on the application of that program in past years. He wanted to know how much was doled out, how many people participated and how the program worked.

Dhaliwal is interested in seeing if some form of the program could be reimplemented.

“My first step here, and you’re probably going to see it next week, is I’m going to reach out to the provincial government and see if they can help us, the municipal government, with some funding mechanism to support this kind of program,” he said.

“If there is a desire, definitely it will make it easier to bring it back.”

Siding hard hit in this storm, Dhaliwal said

The IBC said along with the hail on Aug. 5, there were strong winds and heavy rain that contributed to localized flooding in Calgary.

Those strong winds likely catapulted the hail into the sides of many Calgarians’ homes. Dhaliwal said the damage reports he’s seen include more damage to siding than to roofs in this go-round.

“Mostly, I’m seeing people telling me that it’s the siding in this one. It’s the siding that got crushed this time,” he said.

Given that both siding and roofs have been significantly impacted, Dhaliwal thinks there’s an opportunity to look at an integrated program where people could apply due to damage to their roof or their siding.

Two years ago, the Calgary city councillors voted down a plan to provide cash for those waitlisted on the $3,000-per-home rebate program. Nearly 1,100 Calgary homeowners were aided by the program, to the tune of $5.4 million.  Another 1,574 homeowners applied but didn’t receive the rebate.

Dhaliwal believes the province should be a part of any plan to help residents.

“I think the provincial government needs to also understand that there’s a role for them to play when the natural disasters hit,” he said.  

“It’s not necessarily municipal jurisdiction to provide that kind of support.”

Dhaliwal hopes the province will be open to helping fund a program. He’d also like to see them commit to further review of the Alberta Building Code to prescribe more resilient materials for Calgary homes.

The Alberta government said that they were saddened to see the extent of the damage to Calgary homes and businesses after the August storm.

“We remain committed to working with communities following storm events as we rebuild together,” read an emailed statement from Heather Jenkins, press secretary for Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver.

“When a natural disaster occurs, the Superintendent of Insurance oversees how insurers respond to insurance claims while the Alberta Insurance Council provides support so claims can be processed quicker. Hail is an insured loss and impacted Calgarians should speak with their insurance agent about their specific needs.”

Jenkins also said that Alberta’s building code includes construction mitigations for weather and climate and includes structural considerations and building materials. She also said that builders and homeowners are free to exceed these standards.

The City of Calgary said that at this time they aren’t relaunching the resilient roofing program.

“Homeowners should contact their insurance provider before doing any repair work on their property. Calgarians can find information on how to hire a certified professional here,” they said in an emailed response.