Typhoon Lekima heralds $10bn economic loss for China in August

At least 71 people killed or missing as storm sweeps through nine provinces...

 Aon plc has launched the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during August 2019.

The report reveals that Typhoon Lekima became the deadliest and costliest storm of the 2019 Western Pacific Typhoon Season after coming ashore as a 110 mph (175 kph) Category 2 storm in China’s Zhejiang Province on August 10.

At least 71 people were killed or missing in China following Lekima’s heavy rains, flooding, and gusty winds that affected nine provincial regions. Two people were killed in Taiwan during the passage of Lekima. A damage assessment by the Chinese government revealed at least 149,000 homes and 1.1 million hectares (2.8 million acres) of cropland damaged or destroyed.

Total economic losses in China were estimated to approach CNY72 billion (USD10 billion).

Meanwhile, intense bouts of monsoonal rainfall spawned widespread flooding in several states in India, leaving at least 287 people dead or missing, and damaging or destroying more than 50,000 homes and other structures.

Preliminary economic damage costs in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka alone were listed as INR398 billion (USD5.54 billion), and the overall nationwide cost was expected to be even higher.

Michal Lorinc, Catastrophe Analyst within Aon’s Impact Forecasting team, said: “The month of August further highlighted the severity of water-based impacts in populated areas. Typhoon Lekima’s torrential rains in China and continued seasonal monsoon rains across parts of Asia combined to cause more than USD15 billion in economic costs alone. The need to better understand the hydrological impacts in developed and emerging markets will become more important as vulnerabilities increase. Tools such as catastrophe modeling can help aid in developing new methods of hazard mapping and subsequent warning for future perils.”

Other natural hazard events to have occurred in August include:

• Severe thunderstorms swept across parts of the U.S. Midwest on August 4/5, leading to considerable residential, commercial, and automobile damage in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Total economic losses were estimated at USD675 million, with most of the costs insured (USD510 million). Additional U.S. convective storm outbreaks prompted hundreds of millions (USD) of further industry payouts in August.

• Several countries in Europe were impacted by bouts of severe thunderstorms on August 9. The most notable event occurred in southwestern Luxembourg, as a rare F2-rated tornado damaged more than 300 properties and prompted insured losses which were expected by local officials to exceed EUR100 million (USD112 million).

• A major heat wave struck Japan from July 29 to August 8. At least 18,347 people were hospitalized with heat stroke between July 29 and August 5 alone as daily temperatures exceeded 30°C (86°F) at more than 90 percent of observation stations in Japan. The death toll was tentatively listed at 162.

To view the full Impact Forecasting August 2019 Global Catastrophe Recap report, please follow the link:

Global Catastrophe Recap

Along with the report, users can access current and historical natural catastrophe data and event analysis on Impact Forecasting’s Catastrophe Insight website, which is updated bi-monthly as new data become available:

http://catastropheinsight.aon.com