U.S. Tornado Losses Dominate 2012 Nat Cats So Far

Extreme weather event losses in the United States dominated natural catastrophe loss statistics in the first half of 2012, according to a review by Munich Re and the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

In?the 2012 half-year natural catastrophe review, Munich Re noted that some 85 percent of worldwide insured losses and 61 percent of overall losses were incurred in America, predominantly in the U.S. ? compared with an annual average of 65 percent and 40 percent respectively since 1980.

Severe thunderstorm, tornado events in the U.S. accounted for the five costliest natural catastrophes for the insurance industry in the first six months of the year.

The most severe single event was a squall line that crossed several states between 2 and 4 March. Some 170 tornadoes were counted in and around the Ohio and Tennessee River alone, and a small number of communities were almost completely destroyed. Insured losses totaled $2.3 billion.

In a press release Peter H?ppe, Head of Munich Re?s Geo Risks Research unit, noted:

Overall, most of the severe thunderstorm-related outbreaks with tornadoes affect a limited area, and may cause serious damage locally but are not comparable in scale to events like severe hurricanes. However, due to the number of events, the aggregate annual loss amounts can attain the level of a major hurricane landfall, as seen last year.?

The good news for insurers is that natural catastrophe losses in the first half of 2012 were relatively moderate. Overall global losses to the end of June were $26 billion, of which some $12 billion were insured.

In a recent post over at the Property/Casualty Insurance blog, Gary Kerney commented that for decades, hurricanes got the headlines and caused more insured losses than tornadoes and thunderstorms, but last year, all that changed.

More facts and statistics on tornadoes and thunderstorms from the I.I.I.

Source: http://www.iii.org/insuranceindustryblog/?p=2931

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