Societal Loss from Historic Natural Catastrophes in Canada
Excerpted from an ICLR Research Paper — By Keith Porter, Jasem Alhumaidi & Daniel Guerrero-Santaren, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction — The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) provides disaster information to encourage people in Canada to become more resilient. That mission is aided by data on the total costs of natural disasters that occur in Canada. But no entity currently publishes estimates of the total societal cost of Canadian natural disasters. Some organizations collect and report important pieces of those costs, however. Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) has estimated insured losses for catastrophes since 2008 and provides its estimates to subscribers. Before 2008, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) collected and disseminated similar insurance loss information. Public Safety Canada offers the Canadian Disaster Database, a source for monetary losses, deaths, and injuries for notable disasters since 1900. The meaning of its monetary loss estimates is unclear, however, and may vary from event to event. It may reflect only property loss, or it might sometimes include emergency response and recovery costs. But nobody collects and reports certain kinds of losses. Nobody polls people for their uninsured losses, either for uninsured property losses or indirect business interruption. We are unaware...