Catastrophic Canadian weather leads to record $3.2-billion in insurance payouts Catastrophic weather disasters in 2013 resulted in the highest payout ever for Canada's property and casualty insurers. Insured losses reached $3.2-billion last year, after devastating flooding, hail and ice storms caused extensive damages across the country, industry association Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) said Monday. "In 2013, the terrible effects of the new weather extremes hit Canadians hard," Don Forgeron, chief executive of IBC, said in a statement. From the Alberta floods last summer to the ice storms in Ontario and Atlantic Canada over the holidays, frankly, bad weather hit insurers hard, too. The widespread rainfall and flooding that swept through southern Alberta in June last year clocked in as the country's most expensive natural disaster on record. Insured damages from these storms exceeded $1.7-billion, according to IBC. Extensive storms in Toronto last summer also broke records as the most costly insured natural disaster in the province of Ontario's history, IBC said. Insured damages reached $940-million as thousands of homes and businesses were flooded and lost power. In recent years flooding and water damage has exceeded fire as a source of insurance claims in Canada. "Canadian communities are seeing more severe weather, especially more intense rainfall," Mr. Forgeron said in a statement. Insurers are working with governments to try to mitigate the effects of these disasters, he said. Both insurance companies and the reinsurers that back up excesses insurance industry losses are developing technologies to help predict extreme climactic events, and limit impacts. Reinsurance firm Swiss Reinsurance Co. Ltd. has invested in a satellite mapping system called CatNet that creates precise flood, tornado and hail zones that help insurance companies quickly understand the extent of storms, and help adjusters process claims quicker. The system also helps insurers predict where damage is likely to occur, and plan for the expense of future claims. IBC has created a system that assesses a municipality's weak spots for sewer backup damage. The predictive tool, called the MRAT (Municipal Risk Assessment Tool), identifies where a city's infrastructure is weak now, and where it may be vulnerable in the future. The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters has also prompted some insurers to make changes to their home, car and business insurance policies and increase premiums to reflect the increasing risks associated with weather.