An exceptionally cold, snowy and long winter in parts of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada, and a delayed but severe tornado season in the Midwestern and Southern U.S., have contributed to overall losses of $12 billion in North America for this first half of 2015. Natural catastrophes have resulted in $8 billion in insured losses for the continent from January to June 2015.

According to Munich Re, a series of snow storms that struck the Northeast at the end of February was the costliest global natural catastrophe for the insurance industry so far this year.

"The insured loss from the February storms was $1.8 billion, with total losses of $2.4 billion," says Tony Kuczinski, President and CEO of Munich Re.

In total, the winter of 2014/2015 resulted in $3.2 billion in direct insured losses ($4.3 billion overall). The figure does not include indirect losses like delayed flights, power failures and business interruptions caused by the storms.

Winter lasted longer than usual, delaying the tornado season. In May, the number of severe storms increased, with tornadoes up to the second highest category of EF-4 and with wind speeds of up to 190 mph. Despite their severity, the number of registered tornadoes through July 1, 2015 is still below average at 830 (as opposed to an average of 1,008 for 2005-2014).

Tornadoes aren't the only severe storms costing the insurance industry. Between the months of April and June, the Southern U.S. experienced unusual severe storms and flooding that resulted in insured losses of $750 million ($1 billion overall). In the first six months of 2015, losses in the U.S. overall from severe weather events like these--in some cases accompanied by tornadoes or hail--caused overall losses of $6.5 billion, of which $4.8 billion was insured.

According to Dr. Peter Hoeppe, head of Geo Risks Research at Munich Re, the development of many weather-related events this year is consistent with moderate to strong El Niño conditions, in which severe thunderstorms with tornadoes happen more often in the Southern US. In addition, very strong tropical cyclones in the Pacific occur more frequently with these conditions, whereas the development of hurricanes in the North Atlantic tends to diminish.

"So the trends for 2015, with a large number of severe weather events in the south of the U.S. and little hurricane activity in the North Atlantic so far, could therefore be expected," says Dr. Hoeppe.

Click "next" to see natural catastrophe losses from earthquakes and heatwaves in the rest of the world.

(Click photo for full size.)

In the rest of the world, the first half of 2015 was characterized by the earthquake in Nepal and the heatwave in India and Pakistan. Some 12,000 people fell victim to these two natural catastrophes.

Other global natural catastrophe highlights for the first half of 2015 include:

A total of over 16,000 people died in severe weather events and earthquakes, which was much greater than in the previous year (2,800), but far lower than the average for the past 30 years (27,000).
The overall losses and insured losses were below long-term average values. Total losses in the first half of 2015 incurred were $35 billion, whereas the average value for the last 30 years is approximately $64 billion when adjusted for inflation. Insured losses for this year so far have been $12 billion, compared with a long-term average of $15 billion.
On April 25, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake caused catastrophic devastation throughout Nepal. A total of 8,850 people were killed, and many cultural heritage sites were destroyed. It was the natural catastrophe with the largest number of fatalities in the first half of the year and also the most severe event in terms of overall losses, which totalled $4.5 billion, of which only $140 million was insured. An additional 230 people died in a 7.3 magnitude earthquake two and a half weeks later.
The costliest natural catastrophe in Europe was winter storm Niklas, which swept across large areas of central Europe in the closing days of March, with wind speeds peaking at approximately 125 mph. A large number of buildings and vehicles were damaged. The overall loss was $1.4 billion, of which around $ 1 billion was insured.
At the close of the first half of the year, there was an exceptionally strong heatwave in India and Pakistan that killed 3,600 people. While heatwaves in the region are not uncommon before the start of the monsoon season, the temperatures, which climbed as high as 116°F, were exceptional.

See more detailed information on global natural catastrophe events and losses in the chart on the next page:

(Click for full size.)

Special Reports /

North American insured Cat losses total $8B so far in 2015

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