Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report: Impact ... - Aon

AnnuAl GlobAl Cli mAte And C AtAstroph e r e port
Executive Summary — 2009’s Top Catastrophes
With our annual report, Impact Forecasting and Aon Benfield are helping to redefine the way in which our
clients interpret and view natural catastrophe events and the potential impacts to their business. Insights in this
year’s report include a recap of 2009’s top natural catastrophe events, a monthly tabular look at 2009’s events,
as well as climate reviews and forecasts for the first five months of 2010 - including the initial forecasts for the
2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season. By presenting catastrophe, meteorological, climatological and insurance data
with a meaningful method, we are redefining the way in which information can be accessed and the value in
which it is delivered to our clients.
2009’s global natural catastrophic activity remained near the levels of the last two years. At least 222 separate
events had damaging effects on various parts of the world, resulting in economic losses of US$58 billion
and insured losses of US$20 billion. In comparison, 2008 had 213 events that produced damage, while 2007
had 217 events. Both Europe and the United States tallied the most insured losses for 2009 primarily due to
damaging winter and springtime weather. Asia accounted for most of the economic losses, with flooding and
typhoons accounting for the majority of their losses. Of the top 10 natural catastrophic events in 2009 from an
insured loss standpoint, there were six severe weather events (tornadoes, hail, severe thunderstorm winds), one
winter-based storm event (snow, icing, cold temperatures and damaging winds), one tropical system event,
one wildfire event and one earthquake event.
The most costly event of the year in terms of insured loss was Europe’s Windstorm Klaus, which caused an
estimated US$3.3 billion for insurance companies. Klaus was the costliest event in terms of economic loss as
well, as over US$6.0 billion in losses were reported, mainly from the countries of France and Spain. The storm,
which occurred in late January, killed 26 people as insurers reported over 715,000 filed damage claims. The top
10 insured loss events, shown in figure 1, totaled US$10.88 billion, more than half of the total insured losses
experienced in 2009. A combination of winter storms, severe weather, flooding, tropical system activity and
earthquakes comprised the remaining US$9.12 billion in 2009’s insured losses.
Figure 1: Top Insured Loss Events In 2009
4
event date
event name
or type
event location
# of
deaths
# of
structures/
Claims
insured loss
estimates
(us$)
economic loss
estimates
(us$)
1/24-1/25 Windstorm Klaus France, Spain, Italy 26+ 715,000+ 3.30 billion 6.00 billion
7/23-7/24 Severe Weather Switzerland, Austria 11+ 5,000+ 1.25 billion 2.50 billion
2/10-2/13 Severe Weather
Oklahoma, Texas,
Ohio valley
13+ 300,000+ 1.20 billion 2.40 billion
4/9-4/11 Severe Weather
Plains, Midwest,
Southeast
2+ 190,000+ 1.10 billion 2.20 billion
6/9-6/18 Severe Weather
Rockies, Plains,
Midwest, Mid-Atlantic
1+ 200,000+ 1.00 billion 2.00 billion
2/7-2/20 Bushfires
victoria, New South
Wales
173+ 10,040+ 0.99 billion 1.00+ billion
3/25-3/29 Severe Weather
Plains, Southeast,
Midwest, Northeast
6+ 150,000+ 0.83 billion 1.60 billion
7/20-7/21 Severe Weather Rockies, Plains 1+ 85,000+ 0.70 billion 1.40 billion
9/26-9/30 Typhoon Ketsana Philippines, vietnam 645+ 7.4+ million 0.26 billion 1.03 billion
4/6 Earthquake Italy 308+ 15,000+ 0.25 billion 2.50 billion
ALL OTHER EvENTS 9.12 billion 35.37 billion
TOTALS 20.00 billion 58.00 billion