2016 catastrophes News

Insured Cat Losses in 2016 Totaled $49B, with $158B of Economic Costs: Swiss Re

More than 10,000 people died as a result of natural and man-made disasters during 2016, with financial losses totaling at least $158 billion, Swiss Re said on Thursday. At an estimated $49 billion, insured losses rose by nearly a third …

Caribbean Cat Facility, CCRIF, Pays Nicaragua $1.1M for Hurricane Otto

CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility) made a payout of US$1.1 million to the government of Nicaragua as a result of damages from Hurricane Otto. Damages triggered a CCRIF payment on the country’s tropical cyclone policy, which …

New Zealand Quake’s Insured Losses Estimated at $705M-$3.5B: Aon Cat Report

Insurance losses from last month’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake in New Zealand are likely to range between NZ$1.0 to 5.0 billion (US$705 million and US$3.5 billion), according to a report published by Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team. At …

Indonesia’s M6.5 Quake Kills Nearly 100 with Low Insurance Losses Expected: AIR

An M6.5 earthquake jolted the northernmost area of Sumatra, Indonesia, on Dec. 7 at 5:03 a.m. local time, with nearly 100 fatalities and more than 600 injuries reported. The epicenter was 19 kilometers (11.8 miles) southeast of Sigli and 92.3 …

Insured Losses from Italy’s October Earthquakes Estimated at $33.3M: PERILS

The initial estimate of the property insurance market loss from the series of earthquakes that hit central Italy in October is €31 million ($33.3 million), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization that provides industry catastrophe insurance data. Three major …

7.4 Earthquake off Coast of Fukushima Jolts Japan; Tsunami Alert Lifted

A powerful earthquake rocked northern Japan early on Tuesday, briefly disrupting cooling functions at a nuclear plant and generating a small tsunami that hit the same Fukushima region devastated by a 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. The magnitude 7.4 …

October Floods in Atlantic Canada Cost $100M-Plus in Insured Damage

A tropical moisture system resulting from Hurricane Matthew swept through Atlantic Canada last month, resulting in more than $100 million in insured damage, according to Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), which quoted a report from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. …

New Zealand EQ Insured Losses Could Top $3B: AIR Worldwide

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide released its initial estimates of industry insured losses from the earthquake that struck New Zealand’s South Island early this week, putting a range of $762 million to $3.5 billion out for the event (NZD1.15 billion …

New Zealand Avoids Widespread Damage from Earthquake; AIR Comments

New Zealand was rocked by a powerful earthquake early Monday that killed two people and caused extensive damage to roads and businesses, but avoided the widespread destruction caused by a 2011 quake that killed 185 people. The local dollar fell. …

Hurricane Matthew Could Cost US & Caribbean Economies $15B: Aon Benfield

Hurricane Matthew, which swept through parts of the Caribbean and United States, had total economic losses of up to US$15 billion, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team. In the U.S., economic losses (or non-insured losses) from …