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Toronto is experiencing storm The city received more than a month’s worth of rain earlier this week, leaving some residents dealing with flooded basements and property damage.
“I was really shocked,” Rockcliffe-Smith a resident of the northwest Toronto neighbourhood told CTV News Toronto.
The area was hit hard by Tuesday’s rains, with water reaching knee-deep in Kunsang’s basement as the storm moved in, destroying furniture and overturning large appliances.
“This place is like something out of a movie. When something like this happens in your house, your brain shuts down,” he said.
Eric Swanson lives nearby and his basement still has at least a foot of water despite installing a pressure-tight door and a powered backwater valve in his basement.
“Are we going to call the insurance company? Are we not going to call the insurance company? The mold and the disgusting water and all these issues…I need to get it cleaned up and taken care of so my house can be lived in,” Swanson said.
The record-breaking storm, which dumped nearly 100 millimetres of rain in just a few hours, did more than just damage homes. Floodwaters washed out major roads across the city, including the Don Valley Parkway, leaving 14 people needing rescue and drivers abandoning their vehicles.
The downpour has been compared to Toronto 2013 Storm – Ranked as one of Canada’s most expensive natural disasters based on insurance payouts. Data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) shows that claims filed following the weather event topped $1 billion.
The basement of Eric Swanson’s (left) and Karma Kunsang’s (right) home flooded after record-breaking storms hit Toronto on Tuesday.
While it’s too early to put an exact number on the damage caused by Tuesday’s storm, IBC told CTV News Toronto that the two incidents were “similar.”
“At this point, we cannot determine the extent of this incident,” said Anne Marie Thomas, director of consumer and industry relations at the IBC. “We cannot predict how much damage this incident will cause because, as you can imagine, not everyone has submitted an insurance claim yet.”
Home and car flood insurance tips
If your basement floods or you need to abandon your vehicle, the first thing you should do is contact your insurance company or insurance broker to check your coverage.
“Not all insurance policies cover weather events like these,” Thomas said, adding that homeowners insurance requires sewer backup coverage and overland flooding insurance, both of which are optional and not always included in basic coverage.
“Regular homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage from sewer backup or flooding. It only covers damage from a burst pipe in your home or something like that,” she said.
Once you’ve decided on your insurance type, the next step is to inventory all of your damaged items, including taking photos and videos of them. If you have proof of purchase (such as a receipt) for the items you’re claiming, this will help with the claim process.
One thing to note is that you should always reserve damaged items before disposing of them because, as Thomas explains, insurance adjusters want to see the damage as it was when the incident occurred.
“So if your house is damaged, you say, ‘OK, I’m going to get rid of this.’ Wait until your insurance company says yes. Unless that item is a health hazard or a danger,” she said.
Also, if you rented any equipment to dry your home, such as a commercial vacuum cleaner or industrial fan, keep those receipts because you may be reimbursed.
For car owners who are forced to abandon their vehicles in a flood, vehicle insurance is similar to home insurance, only certain policies will cover the losses.
“In order to get insurance on these vehicles, the owner must purchase collision, comprehensive or ‘all-risk’ coverage,” Thomas said. “These are optional physical damage coverages you can purchase for your car. If you have these, then your insurance company will pay for the repairs or write off your vehicle.”
Thomas said typically, after a storm like Tuesday’s, people don’t fully “realize” the damage until 30 to 45 days after the storm.
Flooding in the Don Valley covers some cars after heavy rains in Toronto on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. The Canadian Press/Arlyn McAdorey
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