AOG Perils of Cyclones And Methods of Measure Impacts

The Acts of God perils of cyclones, storms, typhoons, tornadoes, and hurricanes as called by various names are the NAT CAT Perils which have caused highest number of events with highest amounts of insured losses as per SIGMA Reports of Swiss Re from the years 2007 to 2017. Out of NAT CAT Events caused by earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruption and storms number of events are with higher frequencies, increasing severities and maximum amount of Insured losses since 2007 to 2017 as under:

In the year 2009, the Month of March has witnessed Four Mega Events of Cyclones / Rainstorms causing damages to property and loss of lives on a very large scale.

• Cyclone Bomb in North western USA, 9^th March onwards.
• Cyclone Veronica in North Western Australia, since 12^th
• Cyclone Trevor in North eastern Australia, since 12^th
• Cyclone Idai in South western Africa between 12^th and13^th
• Cyclone Fani is in the Bay of Bengal during the last week of April.

Cyclone Bomb:

Northeastern USA’s vast areas from the Great Lake to the Great Plains were under the devastating impacts of Cyclone Bomb along with rainstorms, melting snow, ice jams, inundation and floods caused by violent floods with gusts of winds of more than 65 knoticle miles per hour.

From Northern New England icy regions to New York and Maine, the category 3 storm was surging into higher categories with increasing speed of winds.

Enormous losses were bound to be there for loss of lives and property damages rose up Billions of US$.

The occurrence of the event was progressive over a vast area of Great Lake to Great Plains. Such a widespread event of Natural Catastrophe was of a unique kind and it involved BLNS of US$ losses across all the regions.

Australian Events of Cyclones:-

The BOM – The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia gives daily reports of Tropical Cyclones with warning services of following types:

• Seasonal outlook of Cyclones
• Infrastructure Bulletin
• Cyclone with Rainstorms and Flooding
• Cyclone Routes with Satellite Tracking maps.
• Predictions of Cyclones with Warning Systems and
• Maritime Warnings to Ships at Seas.

Between 12^th to 13^th March, Northeastern Australia was impacted by Cyclone Trevor and the Northwestern Australia by Cyclone Veronica.

Cyclone Trevor occurred in Cape York Peninsula. The Cyclone’s wind speed rapidly increased and had impact damage on coastal towns of Queensland with a wind speed of 200kms per hour.

Trees and power lines across the Cape York were uprooted. Power supply to towns was severely affected and the Lockhart River area experienced was severely damaged as well.

The aerodromes in the area were inundated as Lockhart River experienced heavy floods.

Cyclone Veronica:

The Northwestern Australia was heavily impacted by violent Cyclone Veronica disrupting life and properties in the coastal towns and cities, and the interior infrastructures were damaged. The wind speed was rapidly increasing with Category 3 levels of the stormy winds with heavy showers.

BLNS of Dollars of losses are bound to be there for insurers and reinsurers.

Cyclone FANI:

The tropical Cyclone FANI was intensifying between category 3 and 5 and it moved towards the costs of Odisha impacting the town of Puri and the Paradip Port from the southern Tamilnadu.

The ONGC had taken preventive measures and 480 employees from operating Oil Rigs in the Bay of Bengal have been evacuated. Millions of people from villages on the coastal regions have been evacuated to prevent loss of lives.

Technologies To Assess Damages Caused by Storms:-

The Natural Catastrophes of Storms as Acts of God Perils, there are very accurate monitoring of Storms through satellites for which increasing and /or decreasing wind speed as well as routes of Storms can be precisely predicted.

The Acts of God Perils of Storms are given different names in different regions as under:

A Beaufort Scale:-

This technology is named after Sir Francis Beaufort who developed this technical method to measure wind speed and their impacts on surface of seas. This was invented in 1830 and was in use till 1916 by sailors with ships on oceanic voyages – Sir Francis Beaufort was a Royal Navy Officer and his method became popular.

In 1916, some changes in forces of wind speed were amended and added for storms in different seas over different regions and seasons.

In 1923, Mr. George Simpson included the relative impacts of storms on land along with seas.

Thus, we have the Beaufort Scale today.

The Saffir Simpson Scale:-

In the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth the cyclones winds are clockwise in movement and in the Southern Hemisphere they are anti-clockwise.

Cyclone never crosses the equator.

The Saffir Simpson scale measures Hurricane as per wind speed.

There are five categories of Hurricane wind scale. The standard scale exists for rating severities of Hurricane. The Hurricane beyond the 5^th scale is considered as super storms. Various names of the Hurricanes are used in various countries when they occur.

In the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Madagascar and East African Coasted lines they are called Cyclones.

In Philippines, China, Japan they are called Typhoons.

In USA – Mexico they are called Tornadoes, and

In the Northern coasts of Australia they are called Welly–Wellies.

Natural Catastrophes of Hurricanes – Rainstorms cyclones – Typhoons – Tornadoes are predictable and Loss Prevention Measures as well as Loss Minimization Measures are collectively taken by Insurers and Reinsurers with claims Co-operation and Claims Control Clause provisions in practice. Satellite ‘Eyes in the Sky’ is there with digital cameras to pin-point locations enroute a Cyclone with increasing velocity of winds.

In a way the Beaufort Scale and the Saffir Simpson Scale are also Post – Disaster Risk Management Techniques.

When Hurricane Katrina – Wilma – Rita struck the Gulf of Mexico regions more than hundred Drilling Rigs operating in the Gulf of Mexico experienced enormous damages with Billions of US$. However, Reinsured Insurers and Reinsurers urged President Bush to order switching off the operations of hundreds of Offshore Drilling Rigs which prevented multi-billion US$ Losses!

Thus, satellite monitoring helps to take timely loss minimization measures as Pre-Disaster Management. Techniques of the Risk Management, the Beaufort Scale and Saffir Simpson Scale can help to assess losses caused by rainstorms, typhoons, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and so on, as various names are used to describe events of storms.

Appendix ‘A’

40 MOST COSTLY PROPERTY INSURED LOSSES (1970 to 2017)

Source Sigma Reports 1-2018

Largest Insured Loss of WTC Attacks on 11^th September 2001

Appendix ‘B’

40 MOST COSTLY DEAD AND MISSING INSURED LOSSES (1970 to 2017)

Source Sigma Reports 1-2018

APPENDIX ‘C’

GLOBAL NAT CAT LOSSES FOR 2007 TO 2016

Appendix D

This scale helps Claims Management of Property Damages on Land as well as casualties at High Seas when Rain Storms, Cyclones, Hurricanes, Tornadoes strike.

Appendix D – 1

This Scale helps to take Loss Prevention measures when Satellite Monitored Hurricanes, Cyclones, Typhoons, Storms are classified into 5 categories.

Appendix D – 2

Hurricane Katrina – Rita – Wilma in 2005 could have caused enormous losses for Offshore Rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. But Loss Prevention Measures could minimize such losses as Drilling Rigs’ operations were switched off well in time by Presidential Order of George Bush when the category 4 and 5 storms were to reach the Gulf of Mexico.

Appendix E

Magnitude of Earthquakes by Richter Scale and Intensity by MM Scale provide a great help to assess Claims Management i.r.o Property Damages caused by Earthquakes. Richter Scales above 6 are disastrous.

Appendix F

Tsunamis caused by Seaquakes have impacted greater Damages in December 2004 and March 2011. Phenomena of Tsunamis are explained with causes and consequences as mentioned above.

Appendix G

Climatic Changes cause serious disturbances in Cycles of Seasons and unusual events of higher floods, droughts occur. The hole in Ozone Layer and the Green House effects cause all climatic changes with increasing frequencies and severities of Natural Catastrophes.