Insurance companies in Canada are facing a new reality: flooding is now a greater expense for them than fires. And they attribute that flooding to global climate change:
"Canadian insurance companies are facing unprecedented growth in claims and payouts for water-related home damage, and industry experts lay the blame squarely on climate change.
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Heavy rainfall causing flooded basements was the main culprit, costing the insurance industry $1.3-billion in 2009.
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For many years, fire damage was the most expensive cost for companies, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. But 10 years ago, water damage claims started to increase, until 2005 when they surpassed fire costs. Today, the bureau reports that
water damages account for more than half of all insurance claims."
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New reality means heavy rain, extreme weather
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/12/02/climate-change-flooding.htmlDr. Francis Zwiers, director of the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, and former director of Environment Canada's climate research branch says that on a global scale there is a steady upward trend in heavy precipitation.
Heavier rains lead to more flooding... until we redesign our cities and sewer systems to adapt to the greater volume of rain. That's not going to be cheap!