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July 31, 1987, high humidity and warm temperatures
combined dangerously with a shifting mass of cold air in
the skies above Edmonton. Within minutes, a tornado - one
of nature's most terrifying sights - was unleashed upon
the unsuspecting city. Its impact was swift, fatal, and
devastating.
In its wake, 27 lives were lost and more than 63,000
insurance claims were filed. Claims in excess of $250
million were settled industry-wide, one of the largest
natural disaster pay-outs in Canadian history. |
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"It
was astonishing," remembered a Wawanesa employee.
The Edmonton branch quickly sprang into action. It set up
a trailer at the heavily damaged Evergreen Mobile Home
Park, in order to facilitate the handling of claims.
Wawanesa staff logged 8,000 hours of overtime between
July 31 and December 24, 1987. The company brought
adjusters from the Calgary branch, as well as from the
Alberta service offices of Lloydminster, Red Deer, and
Grande Prairie to assist with claims. |
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Claims
flooded in. Three months after the event, an average of
22 to 30 claims was still being filed daily. Auto claims
with Wawanesa reached 3,901 by December 31, 1987, a loss
of $5,096,587. At the same time, there were 2,706
property claims, totalling $11,750,923. The grateful
comments of policyholders, impressed with the speed and
thoroughness of the company's response, gave recognition
to Wawanesa's tradition of integrity and service. |
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 Surprisingly,
Canada's greatest insured disaster was
not a tornado, fire hail storm or
explosion. It was an ice storm. The storm
struck eastern Ontario and southern and
western Quebec in January of 1998. This
event caused well over $1.4 billion in
property damage. Wawanesa processed over
14,000 claims totaling more than
$12,000,000. |
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