NU Online News Service, April 5, 1:00 p.m.EDT

Storm losses in the United States over the past month areexpected to exceed $100 million, according to a report issued byAon Benfield.

While paling in comparison to the earthquake losses in Japan,Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance broker and subsidiary ofChicago-based insurance broker Aon Corp., says several severeweather events during March resulted in a significant number ofclaims.

In its Monthly Cat Recap report, Aon Benfield says the severeweather events resulted in 20,000 insurance claims in the Southeastand the Mississippi Valley with payouts exceeding $120 million.

Separate events at the end of the month were expected to causeat least tens of millions of dollars of further insured lossesacross the Southeast.

The report, published by Impact Forecasting, the firm’scatastrophe modeler, highlights the Tohoku mega-earthquake andresultant tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of Japan onMarch 11.

To date the event has claimed more than 12,300 lives and injurednearly 3,000 people. At least 15,000 people officially remainlisted as missing.

More than 830 aftershocks followed the main magnitude 9.0tremor, and at least 203,000 homes and other structures weredamaged or destroyed by ground shaking, tsunami waves, fires orliquefaction, the report notes.

The Japanese government estimates total economic losses of $198billion to $309 billion, while the World Bank estimates insuredlosses of $14 billion to $33 billion.

Tsunami waves from the Japan earthquake crossed the PacificOcean and caused a combined $88.4 million in damage to coastallocations of Hawaii and California in the U.S.

Additional tsunami damage to more than 500 homes was recorded inPeru and Chile.

In a statement, Steve Jakubowski, president of ImpactForecasting, says that Japan has long been regarded as a peak perilzone and “robust earthquake modeling tools have been developed forthe region.” However, due to the tsunami, “loss assessment will beongoing for the foreseeable future.”

He notes that at least 57 of the 830 aftershocks have beensignificant, with tremors measuring above magnitude 6.0.

Other natural catastrophe loss events Aon Benfield noted fromlast month:

• In China a magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck regions in thesouthwest, killing at least 26 people and injuring 313 others.Officials in China say the tremor damaged or destroyed at least68,000 homes in Yingjiang County, and the Chinese government hasallocated $16 million for relief and recovery costs.
• Myanmar recorded a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that killed atleast 75 people. Myanmar’s officials reported that at least 3,152homes, 31 religious buildings, nine government buildings and ahospital were destroyed, with total economic losses listed at $3.6million.
• Flooding in southern Thailand left at least 51 people deadafter more than a year’s worth of rain fell over just six days insome isolated locations. At least 580,000 homes were damaged ordestroyed, and transportation was severely hampered. Estimatedeconomic damages could reach $330 million.
• Flood events in Brazil, Indonesia and Namibia led to tens ofthousands of homes being destroyed and millions of dollars in totaleconomic damages.
• Natural disaster declarations were also made in Australia’s NewSouth Wales after more than 800 homes were damaged by floods.