Floods cause $8bn damage in March 2019, finds Aon catastrophe report

Floods around the world cost the global economy $8 billion in March 2019, according to the Aon Global Catastrophe Recap report.

Events examined in the report include windstorm Eberhard, cyclone Idai and historic flooding in the US Missouri and Mississippi river basins.

Eberhard swept through parts of Western and Central Europe killing two people and causing nearly one million power outages and tens of thousands of property claims, Aon said. “Eberhard could be the costliest event of the 2018/19 season in Europe,” the report said.

In the same month, cyclone Idai hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi killing 1,100 people and affecting more than 3 million, causing a humanitarian crisis across all three countries. Aon said total economic damage to infrastructure in Mozambique alone was estimated at $1 billion.

In the US, heavy snowfall and rain, record temperatures, severe thunderstorms, and hurricane-force synoptic winds in the Missouri and Mississippi River Basins are estimated to cost more than $4 billion, with up to $1 billion in claims.

Prolonged torrential rain in Iran caused extensive flooding and killed at least 70 people. Unofficial estimates from local government officials said total economic losses were $3.6 billion (RR150 trillion).

Further floods and heavy rain across the world, in Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and Pakistan among many other countries, have contributed to the $8 billion total insurance costs for one month.

Michal Lörinc, senior catastrophe analyst at Aon Impact Forecasting, said: “The major catastrophe events of March highlighted the continued vulnerabilities which exist in both developed and emerging markets. The multi-billion-dollar impacts from flooding in the United States, Iran, and Cyclone Idai in Southern Africa were each enhanced by infrastructure unable to handle the large scale of water inundation. In an increasingly volatile era for weather events and their impacts on a growing exposure, it will be critical that resilience and risk mitigation planning will become more pronounced in the public and private sectors.”

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