2016 set a record for insured damage due to severe weather.
Severe weather, natural disasters cause record year for insurable damage in Canada – https://t.co/JFuilPnqAg
— IBC (@InsuranceBureau) January 6, 2017
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says from the Fort McMurry wildfires, to Thanksgiving Weekend flooding, the cost topped $4.9 billion.
The previous record was set at $3.2 billion in 2013.
The Fort Mac fires were the biggest single contributor, coming in at $3.7 billion, more than twice the amount of the costliest natural disaster on record.
IBC data shows the annual economic cost of severe weather around the world has shot up five fold since the 1980s.
From an average of $25 billion a year then, to an average of $130 billion in the 2000s.
