August hailstorm in Regina being called most costly in province’s history

It’s being called one of the most costly storms in Saskatchewan’s history.

Saskatchewan Government Insurance says the Aug. 31 hailstorm in Regina is projected to result in more than $100 million in claims being handed out when it’s all said and done.

“It is absolutely one of the biggest, catastrophic storms in our recorded history,” SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy said Friday. “We actually don’t have anything in recent history that matches those numbers.”

McMurchy says the storm resulted in 2,257 property claims and 9,372 vehicle claims mostly from the Regina area.

Structures suffered damage to windows, roofs and siding, trees and plants were shredded, and cars had windows broken and bodywork dimpled by hailstones.

“Northwest Regina was particularly hard hit,” McMurchy said.

“There’s a lot of cars and a lot of homes and businesses as well, so lots of things to be damaged. Hail can be very destructive and that was the case with this one.”

McMurchy said there are still claims trickling in from the storm. He added those figures only includes SGI and not other insurance companies.

SGI is advising its customers to contact the company if they haven’t already.

“If they do have damage from that and haven’t contacted their roofing contractor yet, they should do that,” McMurtry said, “because they will be very busy this summer.”