'It was totally gone': Thousands of insurance claims filed in Sask. after summer storms
Jeff Andersen has lived in the Lumsden area for 14 years and he says he has never had a storm pass through like the one on July 22.
“I sort of looked at the shop, expecting maybe some trees to be down and the power to be out. I looked where the shop was and it was totally gone. All that was left was some of the contents that were inside of it,” Andersen told CTV.
“The electrical is ripped right out of the panel and everything like that, so I didn’t know if there was live wires or anything down there, I couldn’t see too much, but there was debris thrown everywhere. It was a steel-covered insulated shop. We had steel and wood and insulation up to 300 feet away.”
Andersen said there was plenty of other minor damage around the property such as a toppled calf shelter, but his house was fine, and all of his family, including cows and dogs, were safe.
Andersen said he had heard there was a storm heading his way, but he never expected it to be as big as it was.
“We got a text from a neighbour saying it was hailing like crazy and it was windy, and they had gone down to their crawl space because they were afraid of the wind and all that,” Andersen said.
“When I came home I wasn’t expecting that much, maybe some trees down and the power I had heard was out. Just shock when I got there.”
Andersen is in the process of filing an insurance claim for his shop, and he is not alone.
According to SGI there have been nearly 2,200 claims reported so far since the storm and another which occurred on July 27.
“It’s entirely possible that more claims will come in as people examine their property and understand that they may have enough damage to warrant making a claim with SGI,” Tyler McMurchy, manager of media relations with SGI said.
SGI said of the 2,190 claims, 1,562 were for vehicles, and 628 were for property damage.
“The vast majority of that was caused as a result of damage resulting from hail. On Thursday July 22 in the Foam Lake area we saw a large number of hail losses. We saw some golf ball-sized hail, and maybe in some places a little bigger than that,” McMurchy said.
Kyle Fougere, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), said the province experienced a low-pressure system that moved through the province on July 22, causing the storms..
“We saw some pretty wide-spread thunderstorms on that day. There was widespread wind reports extending all the way from Lloydminster which recorded 115 kilometres an hour, down to Regina which had 140 kilometre-an-hour gusts, and all the way up to Saskatoon with 96 kilometres per hour,” Fougere told CTV news.
“There was also localized flooding in Regina, and some very large hail was reported. About three hours to the east of Saskatoon in a place called Okla Saskatchewan, there was tennis ball hail which is 6.5 centimetre hail reported.”
On Tuesday the province saw another storm that brought more hail, wind, and damage.
“Kamsack Beach reported golf ball hail, and there was quite a bit of damage out of Pelly Saskatchewan with ping pong-sized hail that shattered windows and created a lot of damage in the area,” Fougere said.
Fougere said with some hot weather coming in the form of a high-pressure system this long weekend, Saskatchewan could expect to see some more storms after the holiday.
“When that ridge of high-pressure does break down as we go into next week we’ll have to be on the watch for severe thunderstorms then as well,” Fougere told CTV.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
3 Indian nationals accused of murdering Hardeep Singh Nijjar facing court in B.C.
Three Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are due to face court Tuesday over the killing that triggered a major diplomatic rift with India.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.