The storm that toppled trees and hydro poles in Ottawa caused more than $875 million in insured damage as it swept from southern Ontario into Quebec May 21, according to initial estimates.
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Damage is estimated at over $720 million in Ontario and $155 million in Quebec according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc., the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) said in a release.
“The derecho event ranks as the sixth largest in terms of insured losses in Canadian history and is a sobering reminder of the increasing risk climate change poses to communities across Canada,” IBC said in the release.
“IBC continues to advocate for a National Adaptation Strategy that will result in tangible short-term measures that improve Canada’s climate defence. Governments at all levels must act with urgency to prioritize investments that reduce the impact of these severe weather events on families and communities.”
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Eight of the costliest disaster in Canadian history have happened since 2011.
Top 10 natural disasters in Canada by insurance payouts (2021 dollars)
Fort McMurray wildfires, 2016, $4 billion
Eastern ice storm, 1998, $2.3 billion
Southern Alberta floods, 2013, $1.8 billion
Alberta hailstorm, 2020, $1.2 billion
Toronto flood, 2013, $1 billion
Ontario-Quebec windstorm, 2022, $875 million
Toronto flood, 2005, $780 million
Ontario windstorm, 2018, $695 million
British Columbia flood, 2021, $675 million
Slave Lake fire, 2011, $600 million
Wind damage is usually covered by home, commercial property and auto insurance policies, IBC said.
The bureau was on the ground in Ottawa after the storm and said residents with insurance questions can reach them at 1-844-227-5422) or ConsumerCentre@ibc.ca and find more information about wind damage online.
One of the world’s leading coral scientists claims a sixth mass bleaching event is unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, with official monitoring flights now under way all along the Queensland coastline.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has confirmed monitoring flights are being conducted “along the length and breadth” of the 2,300km world heritage reef.
But the authority is not due to make a formal update on conditions over the reef, or the initial findings from those flights, until Friday.
The development comes less than a week before the start of a 10-day United Nations monitoring mission to the reef ahead of a crucial meeting of the world heritage committee in June.
Prof Terry Hughes, a leading expert on coal bleaching at James Cook University, said he had received a “flood of reports from the field” of bleached corals in the last two weeks.
Rising ocean temperatures driven by human emissions of greenhouse gases have caused five mass bleaching events along the reef in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2020.
Hughes told the Guardian he believes a sixth mass bleaching event is now unfolding, and that it was not mild or local.
The amount of heat stress over the reef tends to peak in early to mid-March each year but scientists began to worry as early as December after water temperatures rose to record levels for that month.
Hughes said: “We all breathed a sigh of relief because corals that were pale in December regained their colour in January and February. But in the last three weeks there have been reports of moderate to strong bleaching all along the reef.”
Observations from the Bureau of Meteorology show water temperatures at between 1C and 2C above average across wide areas of the reef.
During the last three mass bleaching events, Hughes has led aerial surveys across the length of the marine park to record the condition of corals from a low-flying aircraft.
Hughes said that task had now been passed on to GBRMPA.
He said water temperatures and the accumulated heat stress alone was not enough to say for sure if corals had bleached.
“We won’t have a full picture until the flights are done,” he said. “We have to see those maps [of bleaching] so it is premature to say how this ranks next to the other five bleaching events.”
GBRMPA has been collating information on bleaching from flights, in-water surveillance and reports for weeks.
A week ago the authority said there had been “low to moderate bleaching” reported in many areas.
In a statement on Thursday, the authority said it was “conducting aerial surveys along the length and breadth of the reef, to get a clearer picture of any bleaching in the Marine Park this summer. The status of reef health is updated each Friday.” Flights began last weekend.
The Australian Institute of Marine Science has previously said a recovery in coral cover over the reef since the last bleaching event in 2020 has been driven by fast-growing acropora corals that were also susceptible to bleaching.
Hughes said northern parts of the reef were “halfway to recovery” but a lot of “vulnerable corals” were now bleaching.
Corals can recover from mild bleaching, but if heat stress is too severe the coral can die.
While there is no formal definition of a mass bleaching event, Hughes said: “Most people would describe bleaching that includes severe levels of bleaching at a scale of hundreds of kilometres would qualify as a mass bleaching.”
Last week, environment groups said it was vital that a UN mission to the reef – requested by Australia and starting on Monday – should be able to see bleaching.
No details have been released either by Unesco or the Australian government about where the mission will go or who it will meet.
A report from the mission is expected by early May ahead of a scheduled world heritage committee meeting in June.
Last year, UN science advisors recommended the committee place the reef on a list of world heritage sites “in danger” because of the impacts of bleaching and a lack of progress in improving pollution levels.
Australia reportedly struck at least one quid pro quo – a deal with Spain to back a world heritage inscription for a site in Madrid, despite UN advisors opposing it, in exchange for Spain’s support to block an “in danger” listing for the reef.
But many reef scientists have said efforts like finding more heat-tolerant coral species, improving water quality and removing coral-eating starfish will be overrun by global heating unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut rapidly.
Germany’s Hannah Neise competes in heat 3 of women’s skeleton on Feb. 12, 2022.THOMAS PETER/Reuters
Hannah Neise has never won a World Cup medal. Or a medal at the world championships. Or a medal from the European championships.
She’s got an Olympic medal now.
And it’s the one that everybody wants.
Skeleton has a new champion, and she was a bit of a surprise winner. Neise, the 21-year-old who won the junior world title last year, became the first German woman to capture the gold medal in Olympic skeleton by rallying in the final two heats at the Beijing Games on Saturday.
Her four-run time was 4 minutes, 7.62 seconds. Jaclyn Narracott of Australia — the midpoint leader of the event — won the silver in 4:08.24 and World Cup overall champion Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands took the bronze in 4:08.46.
Neise’s win might have been a bit of a stunner, but at this point, nothing Germany does on this track should be that surprising. After six sliding events at the Beijing Games — four in luge, two in skeleton — the Germans have captured six gold medals.
Oh, and all they have in the four remaining bobsled races — two for men, two for women — are the reigning Olympic champion drivers in Francesco Friedrich and Mariama Jamanka.
Tina Hermann of Germany was fourth and Mirela Rahneva of Canada, the first-run leader, was fifth.
Canada’s Mirela Rahneva after her run in heat 4 of the women’s skeleton event on Feb. 12, 2022.EDGAR SU/Reuters
Neise’s win capped a year that was unpredictable in women’s skeleton from the outset. There were eight World Cup races leading up to the Olympics, with five different winners and 11 different medalists — Neise not being one of them.
But there was a big hint that she could contend at the Olympics. There was a preseason race at the Yanqing Sliding Center after three weeks of international training this fall, and Neise was second in that event.
Clearly, she figured some things out about the new track faster than most everyone else did.
Katie Uhlaender, racing in her fifth Olympics, was the top American and finished sixth in 4:09.23. Uhlaender strained a muscle in her side before competing Saturday and still moved up two spots from where she was after Friday’s first two runs of the competition.
Kelly Curtis, the other U.S. slider in the field, was 21st.
This was the first time in six Olympic women’s skeleton competitions that a woman from Britain didn’t find her way to the podium. Alex Coomber won bronze in 2002, Shelley Rudman won silver in 2006, Amy Williams took gold in 2010, Lizzy Yarnold won gold in both 2014 and 2018 and Laura Deas captured bronze four years ago as well.
Deas was the top British slider in this race, placing 20th.
Narracott’s medal, though, had a very British feel — and that has nothing to do with Queen Elizabeth II remaining the head of state in 15 Commonwealth countries, including Australia. Narracott spends the season traveling and training with the British team, and her husband is retired British skeleton athlete and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist Dom Parsons.
Narracott was great.
Neise was just better. And the world’s most accomplished nation in sliding just continues to dominate the Beijing Games.
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