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Storm - UK and Germany
Tornado - USA
Flood - Europe
Flood - France
Typhoon - Korea
Hurricane - USA
Storm
- Europe
Other events
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Catastrophe Report 2
January 1, 2002 – March 1, 2003 - Bill McGuire |
Typhoon Rusa south of Korea on August 30th 2002. Image courtesy
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
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Due to relatively little serious activity on the geological
front, both economic and insured losses over the past fifteen
months were dominated by weather-related events, particularly
floods. The most lethal event, once again, however, resulted
from a moderate earthquake in a developing world country. Estimates
of the total number of events range from over 300 major natural
and technological catastrophes (Swiss Re.) to around 700 (Munich
Re.) for natural catastrophes alone. Significant lethal events
are estimated by BGHRC at around 125. Floods, in April (Hungary),
August (Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Slovakia), and September
(France), along with damage associated with Winter Storms Anna
and Jeanett ensured that western Europe dominated tables of
both economic and insured losses, with 22 billion US$ and 5
billion US$ respectively. Elsewhere, major economic losses in
the US, arising primarily from Hurricane Lili, the Spring 2002
tornado season and sustained drought in Nebraska and the surrounding
region, totalled around 7 billion US$. Insured cat losses (natural
and technological) in the US, as a whole, were 50 percent down
on the 10-year average at 5.8 billion US$. Asia was badly hit,
once again, by floods and tropical cyclones, with China and
Korea bearing the brunt with economic losses exceeding 10 billion
US$. Associated insured losses are minimal, at less than 200
million US$. In Australia, the major wildfires of late 2001
continued to burn into January 2002 (insured losses ~ 70 million
US$) and were succeeded by even more destructive fires following
during early 2003. In the developing world, death tolls were
dominated by an earthquake in Afghanistan (2,000), floods and
a cold wave in Nepal, Bangladesh and northern India (both resulting
in over 1,000 deaths), and a severe |
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wave in India (1,100) Hundreds more died in earthquakes in Iran
and China, with thousands more losing their lives in floods, storms
and mudslides in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Russia, Ecuador, Peru,
Bolivia, Malawi, Madagascar and elsewhere. Munich Re. estimates
that 11,000 deaths resulted from natural catastrophes worldwide
during 2002, while Swiss Re. claims a figure of 19,000 for all catastrophes.
Total economic losses were of the order of 55 billion US$, of which
11.5 billion US$ were insured loses. While the former are up over
50 percent on 2001, the latter are comparable. Munich Re. report
that 98 percent of insured losses arose from floods and windstorms.
This report was first published in Catastrophe Risk Management in
April 2003.
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