One of the most difficult parts about the enormous storm that hit on July 10 involves dealing with the aftermath of the flooding that resulted of the storm. With 120 millimetres of rain dropped on Estevan over the course of that Sunday afternoon and evening, an enormous amount of property damage for residents and businesses in the Energy City was inevitable.
“We’ve been asked what the anticipated cost is of all the damages, and while it’s a little early to tell, it’s going run into the tens of millions,” said George Sereggela, manager of Cathedral Insurance. “We’ve had a lot of people affected, and the severity of the damage has been significant.”
Local insurance companies have seen the work they’ve got cut out for them growing significantly since the flood, specifically concerning claims. Sereggela said Cathedral Insurance has seen around 200 claims since the July 10 flooding, with the majority of them being sewer backup or flooding claims.
“Going forward, there will be continual followup, as our customers go through the claims process. It will certainly increase our workload,” said Sereggela.
Sereggela said there has been an increase in the number of adjustors working locally, hired by the several insurance companies that Cathedral represents on a local level.
“All the companies we deal with, and the insurers we deal with have, in fact, dispatched extra adjustors to the area,” he said.
Sereggela said some of the insurers represented by Cathedral Insurance, such as SGI, have hired independent adjusting firms from Regina to work in Estevan, to help with the enormous influx of claims. He added that the claims process will increase the workload of insurance brokers for the next 12-18 months as people get their damaged property remediated and repaired.
“It’s been a lot of calls. It was mostly water damage, overall. Whether it was sewer backup, or flooding basements, it’s a mixture of everything,” said Vicki Penney, manager of Western Financial Group. “We’ve brought in some extra staff, and have had some of our calls redirected to external offices neighbouring Estevan, like Wolseley and Weyburn. That helped take care of some of our calling traffic. We’ve had our head office involved, directing phone calls, as well.”
In an email to the Mercury, Tanya Feser, associate insurance and financial advisor with the Co-operators said the uptick in business from the flood is nothing out of the ordinary, adding that summers are usually busy for them.
Feser stated that most of the reported claims have been ones related to backed up water through drains, into homes, damaging flooring, walls and contents of homes. She noted that The Co-operators has adjusters on the ground, and available by phone to consult clients.
“At this time we have not brought extra staff into the community to work on those claims,” wrote Feser. “Our staff are well able to take on an increase like this in claim numbers, and do so numerous times, as we experience weather and fire events across our country.”
Feser noted that The Co-operators in Estevan is dealing with some of the same kind of damage it’s helping residents with. The business’s local office suffered flood damage, necessitating a move for staff into a temporary office, while repairs are done.
