Natural DisastersThe Saguenay FloodBy far the worst catastrophe of the year, and Canada's first billion dollar natural disaster, was the flooding and mud slides in Quebec's Saguenay River valley in mid July. The storm produced the largest ever overland deluge in Canada this century an amount equivalent to a two month flow over Niagara Falls triggering a surge of water, rocks, trees and mud that killed ten people and forced 12,000 residents to flee their homes. It was the deadliest flood since Hurricane Hazel in Toronto in 1954. The scale of the tragedy was staggering. Many of the region's roads and bridges and delivery systems for power and water simply disappeared. To the insurance industry it was Canada's worst ever weather disaster in economic losses. By including insured and uninsured losses and indirect costs to the economy, total losses are sure to exceed $1.5 billion.
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