CALGARY -- Insurance companies say they have sent out adjusters to neighbourhoods ravaged by Saturday’s storm and are asking people to take pictures of all damage that impacts them.
“The first thing that people need to do is, when it's safe to do so, go out take a look and assess the damages,” said Rob de Pruitt, director of consumer and relations for Insurance Bureau of Canada.
“The insurance industry is now averaging (payouts) on an annual basis (of) $1.9 billion a year.”
Between 1983 and 2008, de Pruitt says the average was about $440 million per year.
David Walsh is a Skyview resident and says his car was left undriveable.
“I called my insurance company and this is where they sent my reservation,” said Walsh, who is renting a car from Enterprise, at the advice of his insurance company.
He says it could be a month before he returns to driving his vehicle.
“The front windshield and the back glass is shattered, no longer in the car, there’s water damage inside," he said.
For auto glass repair shops, many are taking their business mobile, something Boulevard Auto Glass is doing.
“Our phones have not stopped ringing,” said Kelly Tremblay, team captain for Boulevard Auto Glass.
“In my 14 years in the auto glass industry this is the worst I’ve seen.”
Some exterior home repair shops say this is a chance for homeowners to speak with insurance brokers about upgrading their coverage, and replacing their vinyl siding with an upgraded material that is hail resistant.
“Certainly some areas are going toward a fibre cement or an engineered wood siding to just avoid that issue,” said Adam Jones, owner of MAX Green Windows & Doors, Siding & Roofing.
The IBC has not calculated the extent of damages from Saturday's storm, but some city councillors along with the mayor believe it could eclipse $1 billion.
The Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016 racked up a total loss of $5.261 billion.
According to the IBC, the Calgary and Toronto floods of 2013 saw $3.4 billion in losses.
Two separate Calgary rainstorms, in 2010 and 2012, also eclipsed $1 billion in losses.