The sky is falling, or so it would have seemed in 2011, a year marred by record-setting devastation that scarred both the earth and the human spirit. During those tempest-tossed days, Mother Nature angrily lashed out with howling storms, raging waves that engulfed cities and villages, and pernicious fires that devoured timber and swaths of homes. When the smoke had cleared, millions were left with the sound, the fury, and the pain. But that was just the beginning for the claims industry, which swiftly rose to restore order from the chaos of numerous billion-dollar calamities.

To say nothing of the thousands of lives lost, here are some statistics that emerged from last year's meteorological chaos to put it all in perspective:

• The deadliest earthquake season since 2008.
• The most destructive wildfire season in Texas history spawned more than 29,000 fires, burning through 3.9 million acres and half a million properties.
• More disaster zones declared by U.S. federal authorities than any other year in history. 

At Home and Abroad
During the first half of 2011, we witnessed a virtually unprecedented number of severe natural catastrophes, with hundreds of events causing multi-billion-dollar damage. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was just getting started. Both Zurich and Swiss Re have estimated catastrophe-related economic losses in 2011 to be around $350 billion—the highest in recent memory. Had Japan been more fully insured for earthquakes, 2011 would have set a record for insured catastrophe losses. As it stands, the $108 billion in insured man-made and natural catastrophe losses this past year places second to the $123 billion in 2005.

The tragic earthquake in Japan on March 11 and the ensuing tsunami caused insured losses of $35 billion, while the Feb. 22 temblor in New Zealand inflicted a total of $12 billion in damage. At press time, experts estimated that the floods in Thailand caused between $8 billion and $11 billion in damage. Severe storms in the U.S. in April and May cost about $14 billion, with Hurricane Irene battering the Northeast—and its many homeowners who lack flood insurance. The tally for Irene's wrath now stands at $4.9 billion.