Fresh reporting from Aon Benfield pegs 2017 as the costliestyear on record for weather disasters, with the tally for lossesand recovery reaching $353 billion.

The National Centers for Environmental Information(NCEI) previously reported that the cost of2017’s natural disasters in the U.S. could exceed $306 billion,which was already a U.S. annual record.

The second most costly year for natural disasters in the U.S.was 2005, when Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma drove theannual cost in the U.S. to $214.8 billion, according toNCIE.

Both estimates are considerably higher than data released onDecember 2017 by Swiss Re, which determined that global losses fromnatural disasters for the year were $306 billion with $188 billionattributable to events in the U.S.

Related: 10 U.S. cities with the highest & lowestnatural-disaster risk level

"The high cost of disasters in 2017 served as a reminder that wecontinue to face increasing levels of risk as more people andexposures are located in areas that are particularly vulnerable tomajor, naturally occurring events," Steve Bowen, Impact Forecastingdirector and meteorologist, said in a press release. "As weatherscenarios grow more volatile in their size and potential impact, itbecomes more imperative than ever to identify ways to increaseawareness, improve communication, and lower the insuranceprotection gap."

Mother Nature's fury

According to Aon's reporting, there were 330 natural catastropheevents in 2017, the vast majority of which were suchweather-related events as Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in the U.S. alongwith Typhoon Hato in China and Cyclone Debbie in Australia.

The "Weather, Climate & Catastrophe Insight: 2017 AnnualReport" released by Impact Forecasting, AonBenfield’s catastrophe model development team notes that 36% of thelosses were insured.

"While 2017 was an expensive year for the insurance industry,the reinsurance market had an estimated USD600 billion in availablecapital to withstand the high volume of payouts," Aon Benfield CEOEric Andersen said in a press release. “Most critically, the USweather and wildfire events in particular have demonstrated thevalue of reinsurance, with claims being paid in an average of eightdays to augment the recovery process.”

Here are some other findings from the report that may be ofinterest to the insurance industry:

The U.S. experienced 16 weather events that each cost at least abillion dollars. There were 31 of these worldwide.

• Wildfires caused $14 billion of insurancelosses in 2017.
• Natural disasters accounted for 10,000 humanfatalities in 2017.
• The single deadliest event in 2017 was amassive landslide in Sierra Leone in which 1,100 people died.
• Northern California’s wildfire outbreak inOctober caused nearly $13 billion in damage.

"We know natural disasters are going to occur," Bowenconcludes. "The question is how prepared are we going to be whenthe next one strikes."

See also:

The role of EAPs in the wake of naturaldisasters

5 types of land development vulnerable to naturaldisasters