NU Online News Service, Oct. 25, 3:30 p.m. EDT
A hurricane and a typhoon produced significant damage and deaths over the weekend, but insurance losses are expected to be negligible.
Typhoon Megi claimed at least 59 lives from flooding in Taiwan and the Philippines before striking the coast of China and turning into a tropical depression.
According to catastrophe modeler EQECAT Inc., Megi made landfall as a severe tropical storm approximately 40 miles south of Xiamen, Fujian province, China, on Sunday.
EQECAT estimated that economic damage would run less than $100 million, and "insured loss from this event is expected to be far less" because insurance penetration is very low.
About 15 percent of property in China is insured, but the rate of insurance uptake is higher in Xiamen and the surrounding region.
The Philippines, which suffered the wrath of the typhoon when it was at its mightiest with winds at around 140 mph, has estimated insurance losses of around $150 million due to lack of insurance penetration in that country.
In the Atlantic, Hurricane Richard struck the coast of Belize Sunday morning, about 20 miles south of Belize City, with sustained winds of 90 mph as a Category 1 hurricane.
The National Weather Service said the storm is now a tropical depression with sustained winds near 35 mph. The storm is expected to weaken and become a remnant low pressure system within a day or two.
The storm has caused flooding and landslides, closing off some roads, according to reports. There have been no reported deaths.
Catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide, which released a report on the storm, did not issue an insurance loss estimate but noted that Belize has suffered several major hurricanes in the past. Hurricane Hattie in 1961, a Category 5 storm, resulted in more than 300 deaths and $60 million in property losses.
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