Record breaking hurricane season causes multi-billion-dollar losses in US: Aon

Total economic losses from Hurricane Delta will approach $4 billion, with roughly half covered by public and private insurers, while the insured losses from Hurricane Zeta will exceed $1 billion, according to Aon's latest report that evaluates the impact of nat cat events that occurred worldwide during October 2020.

Delta made landfall in the US on October 9 along the southern coast as a category two hurricane, bringing significant storm surge, incessant rainfall and hurricane-force wind gusts to eastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana.

Zeta broke records when it became the eleventh named storm to hit the mainland US during the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It impacted the Gulf of Mexico and the southeastern Louisiana coast on October 28 as a high-end Category 2 storm.

The US was also affected by major wildfires in October, with the greatest impacts observed in California, Colorado and Oregon. Seasonal direct economic costs from the fires across California, Colorado and Oregon were estimated to exceed $13 billion, while insurers faced payouts beyond $8 billion. Aon warned that both estimates are subject to change.

In Europe, floods occurred in Alpes-Maritimes of southeastern France and Piemonte in northwestern Italy after the passage of storm Alex, with losses estimated at approximately €2.7 billion ($3.2 billion). Insurers expect notable payouts in the hundreds of millions of euros.

Steve Bowen, director and meteorologist on the Impact Forecasting team at Aon, said: “The month of October and into early November continued what had already been a record-setting pace for the Atlantic Hurricane Season. With additional U.S. mainland landfalls, the country has set new records for the number of named storm landfalls (12) and hurricanes (six) in years dating to 1851. While the scope of impact to human life and property has been significant, the reality is most of the landfalls have generally missed the highest population density areas along the coastline. The season has been very active, but it could have been even more difficult.”