Catastrophes in August affected more than 2 million homes and took more than 4,000 lives according to Aon Benfield's monthly recap.
In its "Monthly Cat Recap" report, the reinsurance brokerage firm, a subsidiary of Chicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp., said the most severe catastrophe was the flooding in Pakistan that destroyed more than 1.25 million homes, and a massive landslide in China that killed close to 1,500 people.
The monsoonal rains in Asia caused considerable death and destruction throughout the region, according to the report.
While no insurance loss numbers were available, preliminary economic loss and reconstruction costs were said to be somewhere around $20 billion for Pakistan, Aon Benfield said.
The flash flooding and landslides claimed the lives of 1,677 people and injured 2,605. In what has been described as the worst flooding in the nation's history, at least 1.25 million homes were damaged or destroyed and over 17 million acres of crop lands flooded.
The rains also destroyed at least 3,000 homes in Indonesia, 10,000 homes in Indian-held Kashmir and triggered a large mudslide in northern India killing 18 children, Aon Benfield said.
In China, heavy rains across several sections of the country led to flooding and landslides. Floods during the month in Gansu, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces left at least 829 people dead, along with damage to nearly 800,000 homes and over 9.8 million acres of cropland. Total economic losses were estimated at more than $16 billion.
The torrential rains also led to a series of massive landslides in northwest China's Gansu Province that left at least 1,467 people dead, 2,000 injured and another 298 missing.
Tropical Storm Dianmu crossed the Philippines before making a final landfall in South Korea, destroying at least 3,000 homes and more than 393,000 acres of farmland, while Tropical Storm Mindulle hit Vietnam, killing at least 10 people and injuring 64 more.
In North America, Hurricane Frank in the Pacific developed off the southern Mexico coastline impacting at least 30,000 people with heavy rains and gusty winds.
Hurricane Earl, which is taking aim along the U.S. East Coast, impacted 187,000 people with lost electricity and another 60,000 people without water after striking the northern Leeward Islands and making a glancing blow at Puerto Rico.
Steven Bowen, with Aon Benfield, said the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), an insurance fund established by Caribbean nations, would pay out $4 million to Anguilla to help cover damage costs.The CCRIF said Earl blew the roofs off of buildings and downed many power lines. Other island nations were not severely affected, it said.
Rains in Nicaragua caused flooding and landslides that claimed 37 lives and affected 4,300 homes.
The wildfires and peat bog fires that plagued Russia in early August claimed 52 lives and at least 3,000 homes, buildings and vehicles. Total economic loss was put at $15 billion.
The Czech Republic, Poland, German and Lithuania suffered flooding that took at least 15 lives.
In a statement, Steve Jakubowski, president of Impact Forecasting, the publisher of the report, said the activities so far in 2010 underscore the need for insurers and reinsurers "to rely on catastrophe modeling to further enhance their understanding of natural catastrophe risks."
