Early U.S. state government figures estimate economic loss from
Sandy at USD30 billion, according to Impact Forecasting catastrophe
report
CHICAGO, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Impact
Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence
at Aon Benfield, today releases the latest edition of its monthly
Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster
perils that occurred worldwide during October 2012. Aon Benfield is the global
reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc
(NYSE:AON).
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The report reveals that Hurricane Sandy will become one of the
costliest natural disasters in U.S. history after causing extensive
damage with 113 dead. In addition, four other tropical cyclones
also caused impacts around the globe during the month of
October.
Sandy made landfall in the U.S. state of New Jersey as a post-tropical cyclone, causing
exceptional damage in the state and also in New York City. Heavy rainfall, storm surge,
high winds, inland flooding, fires and heavy snow were all recorded
in association with Sandy, as up to 60 million people in 24 states
were affected. Select effects included more than 8.5 million power
outages, 21,000 flight cancellations, extensive infrastructure
damage, a two-day shutdown of the New York Stock Exchange and
NASDAQ, and nuclear reactor shutdowns.
Preliminary state-released government estimates indicate that
total economic losses will approach or exceed USD30 billion. Although publicly-released
industry estimates suggest that total insured losses are likely to
approach or exceed USD10 billion,
Impact Forecasting has not externally released its own modeled
estimate.
Prior to landfall in the U.S., Sandy tracked through the
Caribbean and the Bahamas, where the hurricane made landfalls in
Jamaica and Cuba. Non-U.S. impacts from Sandy included:
Jamaica (1 dead, economic losses
JMD5 billion (USD55 million)); Cuba (11 dead, 218,000 homes and other
buildings damaged or destroyed, economic losses CUP53 billion
(USD2 billion)), Haiti (54 dead, up to 75,000 homes damaged,
economic losses HTG3.1 billion
(USD74 million)), Dominican Republic (2 dead, 3,500 homes
destroyed), Puerto Rico (1 dead),
the Bahamas (2 dead, economic loss
USD300 million, insured loss up to
USD100 million), Canada (2 dead).
Steve Jakubowski, President of
Impact Forecasting, said: "The devastating impact of Sandy has been
closely observed by the insurance industry, which will play an
important role in the recovery process. Sandy was certainly a
unique meteorological event, most notably with its expansive
tropical storm-force wind field in excess of 1,000 miles.
Storm surge and coastal flooding were the major sources of
damage from this event, particularly in the hardest-hit areas of
New Jersey and New York City. Impact Forecasting is unique
amongst the major modeling firms in that we have both a storm surge
model and a riverine model to help insurers estimate the financial
losses for events such as Sandy."
In other tropical cyclone news, Typhoon Son-tinh made landfall
in Vietnam after initially
crossing the Philippines and later
entering China. At least 36 people
were killed and nearly 59,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.
Total economic losses included PHP155
million (USD4 million) in
the Philippines, VND2.69 trillion (USD129
million) in Vietnam and
CNY1.13 billion (USD197 million) in China.
Tropical Storm Nilam made landfall in southern India after first brushing by Sri Lanka. At least 59 people were killed.
Economic losses were listed at INR2.0 billion (USD37 million).
Hurricane Paul made landfall as a rapidly weakening storm in
Mexico, causing MXN200 million
(USD15.5 million) in infrastructure
damage. Hurricane Rafael caused minimal damage in the Atlantic.
Also in October, major flooding continued across much of
Nigeria as the death toll rose to
at least 363. More than 2.1 million residents were displaced from
their homes due to flood damage and the government sought
NGN100 billion (USD636 million) to cover the extensive damage.
Flooding events were also recorded in Colombia, Argentina, Italy, Benin,
Indonesia, China, and Sweden.
Thunderstorms spawned a severe hailstorm and flooding rains
throughout parts of South Africa,
including in the city of Johannesburg. Golf ball-sized hail led to as
many as 25,000 claims being filed with payouts expected to reach
ZAR1 billion (USD114 million). Thirteen people were killed.
A magnitude-7.7 earthquake struck a sparsely populated area of
western Canada, though damage was
minimal. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
To view the full October Global Catastrophe Recap report, please
visit the link below:
http://thoughtleadership.aonbenfield.com/Documents/201211_if_monthly_cat_recap_october.pdf
About Impact Forecasting®
Impact Forecasting is a catastrophe modeling center of
excellence whose seismologists, meteorologists, engineers,
mathematicians, finance risk management and insurance professionals
analyze the financial implications of natural and man-made
catastrophes around the world. Impact Forecasting's experts
develop software tools and models that help clients understand
risks from hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and
terrorist attacks on property, casualty and crop insurers and
reinsurers. To find out more about Impact Forecasting®, visit
www.impactforecasting.com.
About Aon Benfield
Aon Benfield, a division of Aon plc (NYSE: AON), is the world's
leading reinsurance intermediary and full-service capital advisor.
We empower our clients to better understand, manage and transfer
risk through innovative solutions and personalized access to all
forms of global reinsurance capital across treaty, facultative and
capital markets. As a trusted advocate, we deliver local reach to
the world's markets, an unparalleled investment in innovative
analytics, including catastrophe management, actuarial and rating
agency advisory. Through our professionals' expertise and
experience, we advise clients in making optimal capital choices
that will empower results and improve operational effectiveness for
their business. With more than 80 offices in 50 countries, our
worldwide client base has access to the broadest portfolio of
integrated capital solutions and services. To learn how Aon
Benfield helps empower results, please visit aonbenfield.com.
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk
management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human
resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than
62,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for
clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and
people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and
technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world's
best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary,
captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by
multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information
on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon's global
partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.
Media
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SOURCE Aon plc