Aon plc has released the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report. This report evaluates the impact of natural disasters around the globe.
In the month of August, nine tropical storms made landfall. Among these storms was the record-breaking Hurricane Laura, which came ashore in Louisiana. Economic losses were listed at $10 billion, but those numbers are likely to rise.
Hurricane Isaias also made landfall, hitting the coast near North Carolina. It spawned 39 tornadoes and caused at least $5 billion in damage while depriving six million homes and businesses of power.
A derecho (a line of fast-moving wind and thunderstorms) blew across the Midwest, causing extensive wind damage. This derecho and the greater storm it was a part of, caused more than $6.5 billion in damage. It is estimated that the derecho caused at least $5 billion of that.
In addition to storms, more than 1,000 fires in California flared due to record heat and low humidity. Thousands of structures were destroyed, and damage estimates just for the month of August have reached $1 billion.
“North America and Asia endured another impactful month of weather disasters in August. Tropical cyclones, severe convective storms, and wildfires all left numerous financial and humanitarian challenges in their wake as the globe continues to deal with implications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Steve Bowen, director, and a meteorologist at Aon. “The focus for re/insurers went beyond just tropical cyclone activity, however, as a historic derecho in the United States left a multi-billion-dollar insurance pay-out to property and agribusiness owners, and early season wildfires destroyed thousands of structures across California.”
Countries outside of the U.S. also saw record-breaking storms. Among them were monsoon rains, severe thunderstorms, and high-velocity wind storms. These events caused devastating damage and loss of life from China to Brazil and Bavaria to Australia.
To view the full Impact Forecasting August 2020 Global Catastrophe Recap report, please follow the link:
http://thoughtleadership.aon.com/documents/20201109_analytics-if-august-global-recap.pdf
