This weather event resulted in 7,200 claims

An intense storm that swept through parts of Regina and elsewhere in Saskatchewan last week has resulted in more than 7,200 claims to date, the province’s government auto insurer said Tuesday.

The Aug. 31-Sept. 1 storm brought golf ball-sized hail along with strong winds and rain, said Tyler McMurchy, manager of media relations with Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI). As of Tuesday, the public insurer already had 6,123 auto claims and 1,135 property claims. The vast majority — more than 95% — were hail-related, McMurchy said Friday.

Pictures on social media of the storm show numerous trees down, localized flooding, and large storm clouds and hail stones.

The latest weather event came more than a month after two separate hailstorms ripped through Saskatchewan on July 22-23 and July 27-28. The larger of the storms on July 22-23 resulted in 1,850 auto claims and 751 property claims, McMurchy said Friday. Most of the damage was related to hail, with other damage attributed to wind, McMurchy told Canadian Underwriter in early August.

“We definitely saw golf ball-sized hail in the Foam Lake area on July 22,” he said. “This storm hit the Foam Lake area hardest, but we also saw claims from as far away as North Battleford.”

Foam Lake, in the southeast part of the province, is a 374-kilometre drive from North Battleford, in west-central Saskatchewan.

The second storm in July resulted in 648 auto claims and 67 property claims, McMurchy said Friday. While damage was less widespread than the earlier July storm, there was hail “up to softball size in spots in the Duck Mountain area, which put some holes in the roofs of camper trailers,” McMurchy said. Duck Mountain is in southeast Saskatchewan, near the Manitoba border.

Including the two storms in July, SGI saw a total of 3,962 auto claims and 1,319 property claims that month.

Feature image by iStock.com/AlesVeluscek