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According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, severe weather in Canada in 2013 led to insurance companies paying out a whopping $3.2 billion to policyholders, making it a record-breaking year.
By comparison, for each of the four years before, natural disaster losses for the insurance industry had topped out at $1 billion.
The Alberta floods last June alone resulted in $1.74 billion of damages. Toronto's record rainfall of more than 126 millimeters in just a few hours in July caused flash fooding that cost $940 million, making it the second-most expensive severe weather event of the year.
Of course, we can't draw conclusions from a single year, but as the table suggests, the cost of natural disasters is growing.
Pictured: the cost of natural disasters in Canada by billions of dollars from 1983 to 2011.
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