Vancouver windstorm damage tops $25-million

A worker cuts away the remains of a tree that fell on a house during Saturday's windstorm, in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday August 30, 2015. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The wicked August storm that toppled trees and power lines and closed tourist attractions across Metro Vancouver caused more than $25-million in damage, according to new estimates from the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The extreme weather event on August 29, which saw gusting 80-kilometre-an-hour winds, also knocked out electricity to nearly half a million people across Southern B.C.

The IBC said events like the recent summer storm are increasing in frequency and intensity, and highlights the importance of being prepared in case of an emergency.

"Since the late '90s, claims payouts as a result of severe weather in British Columbia have more than doubled,” said IBC Vice-President Bill Adams.

The August storm downed about 500 trees onto homes, cars and power lines in the City of Vancouver alone.

The city’s manager called the scale of the storm “unprecedented.”