More than half of New Yorkers expect the Big Apple to be bruised by another Sandy-sized storm within the next two decades, a Swiss Re survey shows.

Natural disasters cost the global economy $160 billion last year, according to Swiss Re. Superstorm Sandy caused more than $28 billion in insured losses when it struck the Northeast U.S. in late October 2012.

Sixty-five percent of New Yorkers sustained some degree of damage during the “perfect storm” of October 2012, which was the region's deadliest in 40 years and the second-costliest in U.S. history.

The findings were based on data from Swiss Re's risk perception study conducted in April and May 2013 by The Gallup Organisation, which polled nearly 22,000 individuals 15 years of age and above worldwide.

“We worked very closely with Mayor Bloomberg's administration in New York to put together a report launched in June which looked at ways to increase the city's resilience to climate change and severe weather events,” said Bill Donnell, head of Property & Casualty in the Americas for Swiss Re, in a statement. “This survey, however, shows that people in the city still feel too vulnerable and it's important that we don't forget the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and continue to look for, and implement, ways to increase resilience to major natural disasters.”

The survey canvasses regional ideas of risk in various global communities, split by age group and risk source. Check out more of Swiss Re's results on the poll's online portal.

Special Reports /

Swiss Re: New Yorkers Fear Another 'Sandy' Within 20 Years

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