Canadians have come to expect certain springtime events. Cold, short days become balmy, long days. Trees wave fresh green leaves and flowers bloom. Another rite of spring far less benign and far more distressing? Flooding. In April of this year, thousands of residents in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick fled their homes after days of extreme flooding. The widespread inundation forced Montreal and Ottawa to declare states of emergency and call out Canada’s armed forces to help.
The April 2019 floods aren’t outliers and statistics confirm this worrisome trend. The Insurance Bureau of Canada reports that reimbursements for catastrophic losses jumped from an average $405 million a year between 1983 and 2008 to a yearly average of $1.8 billion since 2009, with flooding accounting for more than half of the increase. Researchers from the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs found that flooding is now more costly than fire or theft for property owners while Public Safety Canada names floods as the most common natural hazard in Canada.
With nearly two million households spanning the country designated as “very high risk” for flooding, what can residents expect? For imminent events, the government maintains flood forecasting centres across the country, available online for up-to-the-minute storm tracking and flood forecasting on local levels. For residents who experienced flooding over the last five to 10 years – Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, the Atlantic Provinces – the unfortunate advice from academics and officials is to prepare for more frequent, intense and widespread flood events as weather continues to worsen.
With daunting weather in the forecast, more and more Canadian homeowners count on Paul Davis for response, mitigation and restoration after flood losses. Providing extraordinary care to people in need since 1966, Paul Davis provides 24/7 emergency services, responds to calls for assistance within 30 minutes and pledges to have a team member arrive within four hours. They provide a large range of other services that are essential to protect people and property following sudden and devastating floods:
- Storm damage assessment and repair estimates
- Water damage repair
- Emergency board up
- Tree removal
- Structural stabilization
- Comprehensive reconstruction services
- Insurance claim assistance – partnering with major insurance companies to manage and speed mitigation and restoration.
As every Canadian struggles with increased risks, Paul Davis is proud to serve as the country’s most experienced mitigation and restoration expert wherever and whenever flood waters rise.