2020 natural catastrophes News

China to Offer Additional Insurance, Financial Support for Flood-Hit Regions

China’s banking and insurance regulator on Saturday announced measures to further increase credit and lending support and insurance protection for areas that suffered from recent floods. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said in a statement that financial …

Hailstorm in June Was One of Canada’s Costliest Thunderstorm-Related Events: Aon

Canada saw powerful a series of powerful thunderstorms in June, which brought hail greater than the size of tennis balls and caused extensive damage and flooding throughout the greater Calgary metro region, said Aon in its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap …

China Braces for Continuing Floods in One of Worst Rainfall Seasons on Record

China is preparing for flooding in its northern regions that could potentially hurt crop output amid torrential rain that’s lasted over a month and caused billions of yuan in economic damage. The floods have killed 141 people and affected more …

Insured Losses for 2019/2020 Australia Bushfires Estimated at A$1.9B (US$1.3B): PERILS

The insurance industry’s loss footprint for the Australian bushfires of 2019/2020 is estimated at A$1.9 billion (US$1.3 billion), according to PERILS, the independent Zurich-based organization providing industry-wide catastrophe insurance data. The industry loss data cover the peak period for the …

Heavy Rains Batter China, Raising Flood Alert Levels for Cities on Yangtze River

SHANGHAI — The central Chinese city of Wuhan, epicenter of the new coronavirus pandemic, raised its flood alert level on Monday as torrential rain and thunderstorms battered swathes of the country, including the Yangtze river on which it sits. Wuhan …

Torrential Rains Cause Floods in SW Japan, with Nearly 40 Feared Dead

Nearly 40 people were feared dead as torrential rains continued to hit Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu, with river banks at risk of bursting on Monday morning and new evacuation orders put in place. Flooding and mudslides that began at …

U.S. Economic Losses from Severe Weather During May Topped $4 Billion: Aon

Severe weather outbreaks across the United States, with a lot of hailstorm damage, resulted in another costly month for insurers as a significant proportion of the US$4 billion economic cost was covered by insurance, according to Aon’s monthly Global Catastrophe …

Tropical Storm Dolly Becomes 4th Named Storm with Early Start to Hurricane Season

Tropical Storm Dolly spun up southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, becoming the Atlantic’s fourth named storm of 2020, marking the third-fastest start to a storm season in more than a century. The system’s winds reached 45 miles (72 kilometers) per …

Parametric Catastrophe Facility CCRIF Pays US$3.6M to Guatemala for Excess Rainfall

Parametric catastrophe facility CCRIF paid the government of Guatemala approximately US$3.6 million under its excess rainfall (XSR) parametric insurance policy for nine days of rain that occurred during Tropical Storms Amanda and Cristobal. The policy was triggered by rains that …

Cyclone Nisarga Lashes India’s Business Capital, Forcing Evacuation of 100,000

A cyclone made landfall Wednesday south of India’s financial capital of Mumbai, with storm surge threatening to flood beaches and low-lying slums as city authorities struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Live TV coverage showed inky black clouds framing the …