Storms cost US industry dear
Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development centre of excellence at Aon Benfield, has released the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide during April 2014. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc.
The report reveals that a multi-day outbreak of severe weather and flash flooding in the US will likely be the first billion-dollar economic loss event of 2014 attributed to convective thunderstorms. At least 39 people were killed and 250 injured amid nearly 70 confirmed tornado touch-downs, which occurred across more than 20 states in the Plains, Mississippi Valley, Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic. Economic losses are set to exceed US$1 billion, with insured losses minimally in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Another US severe weather outbreak led to major damage in parts of the Plains, Midwest and the Mississippi Valley during the month. The most significant damage was attributed to hail, as hailstones the size of softballs struck the Denton, Texas metro region. Total economic losses were estimated at $950 million, with insured losses in excess of $650 million.
Adam Podlaha, head of Impact Forecasting, said: “The recent outbreaks of tornadoes, large hail and damaging straight-line winds in the US have emphasised the importance of historical data analysis for insurers and reinsurers when trying to forecast future losses. Impact Forecasting has expanded and implemented the past 10 years of observed data from the US Storm Prediction Center into its ELEMENTS platform, which is now being utilised by our insurer and reinsurer clients to better gauge their losses across events with lower return periods.”