Weather going from bad to worse: insurance boss

File photo courtesy: Logan Biesterfeldt

Thursday, May 30, 2013, 9:43 AM -

The president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada is warning that extreme weather is only going to get worse in the years to come.

Don Forgeron says annual payouts are nearing $1 billion, so now is the time for municipalities to upgrade what he calls aging storm water and sewer systems.

Forgeron told a Calgary audience that the longer it takes to improve infrastructure, the worse it will be for Canadians hit by drought, hail, floods or tornadoes.

Alberta has the dubious distinction of being the natural catastrophe capital when it comes to insurance payouts. 

Between 2009 and 2012 Alberta accounted for 67 per cent of disaster payouts in the country.