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July hail storm caused $30 million in damages: IBC

Sep 6, 2018 | 10:36 AM

A storm which bulled its way through central Alberta and onto Saskatchewan in July is estimated to have caused more than $30 million in insured damage, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

On July 13 and 14, severe thunderstorms and large hail damaged siding and vehicles in central Alberta and in our neighbouring province.

Video courtesy Chevi Rabbitt

There was even a tornado watch issued by Environment Canada for parts of central Alberta.

Hail in Ponoka at 6 p.m. on that Friday the 13th was estimated at 75 to 95 mm, or about the size of a baseball, according to Canada’s weather authority.

In Alix, it was golf ball to tennis ball-sized, ping pong ball-sized in Stettler, and golf ball-sized in Bowden.

Winds reached 105 km/h in Bellshill, just east of the village of Forestburg in Flagstaff County.

Summer storms across the prairies caused more than $200 million in insured damage thus far in 2018, according to the Catastrophe Indices and Quantifications Inc. That total jumps to $464 million since May 2017.