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:
Year | Storm Losses | US$ BLNS | |
Number | Amounts | ||
2007 | 142 | 23.27 | 60% to 88% Storms Losses |
2008 | 137 | 44.69 | |
2009 | 133 | 23.35 | |
2010 | 167 | 39.87 | |
2011 | 175 | 110.02 | 44.71% of Earthquake Losses |
2012 | 168 | 71.28 | |
2013 | 150 | 37.05 | |
2014 | 189 | 27.75 | 60% to 88% Storms Losses |
2015 | 168 | 27.79 | |
2016 | 191 | 45.94 | |
2017 | 183 | 138.06 |
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, 9th March onwards.
- Cyclone Veronica in North Western Australia, since 12th
- Cyclone Trevor in North eastern Australia, since 12th
- Cyclone Idai in South western Africa between 12th and13th
- 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 12th to 13th 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:
Locations | Names | |
1. | West Indies And Florida | Hurricanes |
2. | Philippines, China and Japan | Typhoons |
3. | Bay of Bengal And Arabian Sea. Madagascar and | Cyclones |
Eastern Coast of Africa | ||
4. | Northwestern Coast of Australia | Welly – Wellies |
5 | USA – Mexico | Tornado |
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 5th 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)
Sr. | D.O. Loss | Event of Loss | Regions | USD Amount in |
No | Affected | MLNS Indexed | ||
to 2017 | ||||
1 | 25-08-2005 | Hurricane Katrina, storm surge, | U.S. Gulf Mexico | 82,394 |
damage to oil rigs | ||||
2 | 11-03-2011 | Earthquake (Mw 9.0) triggers tsunamis | Japan | 38,128 |
3 | 19-09-2017 | Hurricane Maria | U.S. Caribbean | 32,000 |
4 | 24-10-2012 | Hurricane Sandy, storm surge | U.S. Caribbean, | 30,774 |
Canada | ||||
5 | 06-09-2017 | Hurricane Iram | U.S. Caribbean | 30,000 |
6 | 25-08-2017 | Hurricane Harvey | U.S. | 30,000 |
7 | 23-08-1992 | Hurricane Andrew, storm surge | U.S. Bahamas | 27,943 |
8 | 11-09-2001 | Terrorist attack on WTC, Pentagon, | U.S. | 25,991 |
other building | ||||
9 | 17-01-1994 | Northbridge earthquake (Mw 6.7) | U.S. | 25,293 |
10 | 06-09-2008 | Hurricane Ike, floods, damages to oil | U.S. Gulf Mexico | 23,051 |
Rigs | ||||
11 | 22-02-2011 | Earthquake (Mw 6.1), aftershocks | New Zealand | 19,070 |
12 | 02-09-2014 | Hurricane Ivan, damage to oil rigs | U.S. Caribbean, | 16,762 |
Venezuela | ||||
13 | 27-07-2011 | Heavy Monsoon rains, extreme | Thailand | 16,341 |
Flooding | ||||
14 | 19-10-2005 | Hurricane Wilma, torrential rains, | U.S. Mexico, | 15,771 |
Flooding | Caribbean | |||
15 | 20-09-2005 | Hurricane Rita, storm surge, damage to | U.S. Gulf Mexico | 13,476 |
oil rigs | ||||
16 | 15-07-2012 | Drought in the corn belt | U.S. Gulf Mexico | 11,740 |
17 | 11-08-2004 | Hurricane Charley | U.S. Caribbean, | 10,244 |
Gulf Mexico | ||||
18 | 27-09-1991 | Typhoon Mireille / No 19 | Japan | 10,159 |
19 | 15-0-1989 | Hurricane Hugo | U.S. Caribbean | 9,038 |
20 | 27-02-2010 | Earthquake (Mw 8.8) triggers tsunamis | Chile | 8,989 |
21 | 25-01-1990 | Winter storm Daria | France, UK, | 8,757 |
Belgium, NL, & | ||||
Northern Europe | ||||
22 | 04-09-2010 | Earthquake (Mw 7.0). Over 300 | New Zealand | 8,655 |
Aftershocks | ||||
23 | 25-12-1999 | Winter storm Lothar | Switzerland, UK, | 8,532 |
France | ||||
24 | 22-04-2011 | Major tornado outbreak: 349 | U.S. | 7,952 |
tornadoes, hail | ||||
25 | 08-10-2017 | Wild land fire “Tubbs Fires” | U.S. | 7,710 |
26 | 20-05-2011 | Tornado outbreak. Winds up to 405 | U.S. | 7,680 |
km/h. hail | ||||
27 | 18-01-2011 | Winter storm Kyrill, Floods | Germany, UK, NL, | 7,205 |
Northern Europe | ||||
28 | 15-10-1987 | Storms and floods in Europe | France, UK, NL | 6,684 |
29 | 26-08-2004 | Hurricane Frances, storm surge | U.S. Bahamas | 6,523 |
30 | 22-08-2011 | Hurricane Irene, floods | U.S. Canada, | 6,190 |
Caribbean | ||||
31 | 06-09-2004 | Typhoon Songda / No. 18 | Japan, South | 6,081 |
Korea | ||||
32 | 22-09-1999 | Typhoon Bart / No. 18 | Japan | 5,942 |
33 | 20-09-1998 | Hurricane Georges, floods | U.S. Caribbean | 5,815 |
34 | 25-02-1990 | Winter storm Vivian | Switzerland, | 5,649 |
Germany | ||||
35 | 13-09-2004 | Hurricane Jeanne: Floods | U.S. Caribbean | 4,998 |
36 | 05-06-2001 | Tropical storm Allison: Heavy rain, | U.S. | 4,992 |
Floods | ||||
37 | 14-04-2016 | Earthquakes | Japan | 4,990 |
38 | 27-05-2013 | Floods | Germany, Czech | 4,349 |
Republic | ||||
39 | 02-05-2003 | Thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, flash | U.S. | 4,268 |
Floods | ||||
40 | 10-09-1999 | Hurricane Floyd, heavy rain, floods | U.S. Bahamas | 4,152 |
Source Sigma Reports 1-2018
Largest Insured Loss of WTC Attacks on 11th September 2001
CLASS | US$ MLNS | |||
Property | 25,991.00 | |||
PA Per Credit Card | 32,500.00 | |||
Aviation Hull & Liability | 15,000.00 | |||
Life | 10,000.00 | |||
Health | 6,000.00 | |||
Total | 89,491.00 | |||
Appendix ‘B’
40 MOST COSTLY DEAD AND MISSING INSURED LOSSES (1970 to 2017)
Sr. | D. O. Loss | Event of Loss | Regions Affected | Victims |
No. | ||||
1 | 11-11-1970 | Storm and flood catastrophe | Bangladesh | 300,000 |
2 | 28-07-1976 | Earthquake (Mw 7.6) | China | 255,000 |
3 | 12-01-2010 | Earthquake (Mw 7.0) | Haiti | 222,570 |
4 | 26-12-2004 | Earthquake (Mw 9) | Indonesia, Thailand. Et.al | 220,000 |
5 | 02-05-2008 | Tropical Cyclone Nargis, Irrawaddy | Myanmar, Bay of Bengal | 138,373 |
Delta flooded | ||||
6 | 29-04-1991 | Tropical Cyclone Gorky | Bangladesh | 138,000 |
7 | 12-05-2008 | Earthquake (Mw 7.9) in Sinchuan | China | 87,449 |
8 | 08-10-2005 | Earthquake (Mw 7.6), aftershocks, | Pakistan, India, | 71,310 |
landslides | Afghanistan | |||
9 | 31-05-1970 | Earthquake (Mw 7.9) triggers rock | Peru | 66,000 |
slides and floods | ||||
10 | 15-06-1990 | Heat Wave, Temperatures of up to | Russia, Czech republic | 55,630 |
40˚c | ||||
11 | 20-06-1990 | Earthquake (Mw 7.4) landslides | Iran | 40,000 |
12 | 01-06-2003 | Heat Wave and drought in Europe | France, Italy, Germany. | 35,000 |
et al. | ||||
13 | 26-12-2003 | Earthquake (Mw 6.5) destroys 85% | Iran | 26,271 |
of Bam | ||||
14 | 07-12-1988 | Earthquake (Mw 6.8) | Armenia | 25,000 |
15 | 16-09-1978 | Earthquake (Mw 7.7) in Tabas | Iran | 25,000 |
16 | 13-11-1985 | Volcanic eruption on Nevado del Ruiz | Colombia | 23,086 |
triggers lahars | ||||
17 | 04-02-1976 | Earthquake (Mw 7.5) | Guatemala | 22,300 |
18 | 26-01-2001 | Earthquake (Mw 7.6) in Gujarat | India, Pakistan | 19,737 |
19 | 17-08-1999 | Earthquake (Mw 7.1) in Izmit | Turkey | 19,118 |
20 | 11-03-2011 | Earthquake (Mw 9.0) triggers tsunami | Japan | 18,451 |
21 | 29-10-1999 | Tropical Cyclone 05B in Orissa | India | 15,000 |
22 | 20-11-1977 | Tropical Cyclone in Andhra Pradesh | India | 14,204 |
23 | 22-10-1998 | Hurricane Mitch in Central America | Honduras, Nicaragua, et, | 11,683 |
al. | ||||
24 | 25-05-1985 | Tropical Cyclone in Bay of Bengal | Bangladesh | 11,069 |
25 | 26-10-1971 | Odisha Cyclone, Flooding in Bay of | India | 10,800 |
Bengal | ||||
26 | 12-12-1999 | Floods, mudflow and landslides | Venezuela | 10,000 |
27 | 19-09-1985 | Earthquake (Mw 8.0) | Mexico | 9,500 |
28 | 30-09-1993 | Earthquake (Mw 6.4) | India | 9,475 |
29 | 25-04-2015 | Earthquake (Mw 7.8) | Nepal, India, China, | 8,960 |
Bangladesh | ||||
30 | 08-11-2013 | Typhoon Haiyan, storm surge | Philippines, Vietnam, | 8,135 |
China, Palau | ||||
31 | 17-08-1976 | Earthquake (Mw 7.1) triggers tsunami | Philippines | 7,079 |
in Moro Gulf | ||||
32 | 17-01-1995 | Great Hanshin (Mw 6.9) earthquake in | Japan | 6,437 |
Kobe | ||||
33 | 05-11-1991 | Typhoon Thelma (uring) | Philippines | 6,304 |
34 | 02-12-1984 | Accident in chemical plant-methyl | India | 6,000 |
isocyanates released | ||||
35 | 01-06-1976 | Heat Wave, drought | France | 6,000 |
36 | 27-05-2006 | Earthquake (Mw 6.4): Bantul almost | Indonesia | 5,749 |
completely destroyed | ||||
37 | 14-06-2013 | Floods caused by heavy rains | India | 5,748 |
38 | 25-06-1976 | Earthquake (Mw 7.1) | Indonesia | 5,422 |
39 | 10-04-1972 | Earthquake (Mw 6.6) in far | Iran | 5,374 |
40 | 28-12-1974 | Earthquake (Mw 6.0) | Pakistan | 5,300 |
Source Sigma Reports 1-2018
APPENDIX ‘C’
GLOBAL NAT CAT LOSSES FOR 2007 TO 2016
YEAR | 2007 | 2008 | ||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | ||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | ||||||||
IN US$ | IN US$ | |||||||||||
MLNS | MLNS | |||||||||||
Earthquakes | 9 | 636 | 437 | 1.88 | 12 | 87829 | 422 | 0.94 | ||||
Floods | 53 | 5798 | 6022 | 25.88 | 44 | 3184 | 2059 | 4.61 | ||||
Storms | 57 | 6729 | 14318 | 61.53 | 62 | 141913 | 39288 | 87.91 | ||||
others | 23 | 1467 | 2492 | 10.71 | 19 | 1916 | 2923 | 6.54 | ||||
142 | 14630 | 23269 | 100 | 137 | 234842 | 44692 | 100 |
YEAR | 2009 | 2010 | ||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | ||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | ||||||||
IN US$ | IN US$ | |||||||||||
MLNS | MLNS | |||||||||||
Earthquakes | 12 | 1699 | 609 | 2.72 | 13 | 227050 | 12943 | 32.46 | ||||
Floods | 53 | 2696 | 1667 | 7.46 | 69 | 11027 | 6393 | 16.04 | ||||
Storms | 51 | 3188 | 13548 | 60.60 | 63 | 1702 | 20126 | 50.48 | ||||
others | 24 | 1394 | 6531 | 29.21 | 22 | 57348 | 407 | 1.02 | ||||
133 | 8977 | 22355 | 100 | 167 | 297127 | 39869 | 100 |
YEAR | 2011 | 2012 | |||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | |||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | |||||||||
IN US$ | IN US$ | ||||||||||||
MLNS | MLNS | ||||||||||||
Earthquakes | 15 | 20264 | 49194 | 44.71 | 15 | 717 | 1787 | 2.51 | |||||
Floods | 65 | 5093 | 16262 | 14.78 | 63 | 2979 | 2712 | 3.80 | |||||
Storms | 76 | 3301 | 41152 | 37.40 | 61 | 3129 | 54065 | 75.85 | |||||
others | 19 | 368 | 3413 | 3.10 | 29 | 2123 | 12714 | 17.84 | |||||
175 | 29026 | 110021 | 100 | 168 | 8948 | 71278 | 100 |
YEAR | 2013 | 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | |||||||||||||||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | |||||||||||||||||||||
IN US$ | IN US$ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MLNS | MLNS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earthquakes | 12 | 1095 | 45 | 0.12 | 15 | 897 | 313 | 1.13 | |||||||||||||||||
Floods | 53 | 8633 | 9137 | 24.66 | 61 | 3064 | 2162 | 7.79 | |||||||||||||||||
Storms | 60 | 8344 | 20819 | 56.20 | 85 | 1195 | 18397 | 66.30 | |||||||||||||||||
others | 25 | 2129 | 7046 | 19.02 | 28 | 1910 | 6877 | 24.78 | |||||||||||||||||
150 | 20201 | 37047 | 100 | 189 | 7066 | 27749 | 100 | ||||||||||||||||||
YEAR | 2015 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | |||||||||||||||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | |||||||||||||||||||||
IN US$ | IN US$ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MLNS | MLNS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earthquakes | 13 | 9500 | 510 | 1.84 | 16 | 1386 | 9046 | 19.69 | |||||||||||||||||
Floods | 55 | 2528 | 4306 | 15.50 | 65 | 3336 | 5694 | 12.39 | |||||||||||||||||
Storms | 102 | 2011 | 20624 | 74.22 | 82 | 1640 | 20334 | 44.26 | |||||||||||||||||
others | 28 | 5326 | 2349 | 8.45 | 28 | 522 | 10870 | 23.66 | |||||||||||||||||
168 | 19365 | 27789 | 100 | 191 | 6884 | 45944 | 100 | ||||||||||||||||||
YEAR | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
NAT CAT | NO. OF | VICTIMS | INSURED | % | |||||||||||||||||||||
LOSSES | EVENTS | LOSSES | |||||||||||||||||||||||
IN US$ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
MLNS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earthquakes | 12 | 1184 | 1615 | 1.16 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Floods | 55 | 3515 | 2144 | 1.55 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Storms | 82 | 1642 | 111475 | 80.74 | |||||||||||||||||||||
others | 34 | 2129 | 22841 | 16.55 | |||||||||||||||||||||
183 | 8470 | 138075 | 100 |
Year | No. of | Victims | Insured | Highest % i.r.o |
Events | Losses USS$ | |||
MLNS | ||||
2007 | 142 | 14,630 | 23,269 | 61.63% for Storms |
2008 | 137 | 238,842 | 44,692, | 87.91% for Storms |
2009 | 133 | 8,977 | 23,355 | 60.60% for Storms |
2010 | 167 | 297,127 | 39,869 | 50.48% for Storms |
2011 highest | 175 | 29,026 | 110,021 | 44.71% for Earthquake |
Earthquake | Tsunamis | |||
Loss | ||||
2012 | 168 | 8,948 | 71,278 | 75.85% for Storms |
2013 | 150 | 20,201 | 37,047 | 56.20% for Storms |
2014 | 189 | 7,066 | 27,749 | 66.30% for Storms |
2015 | 168 | 19,365 | 27,789 | 74.22% for Storms |
2016 | 191 | 6884 | 45,944 | 44.26% for Storms |
2017 Highest | 183 | 8470 | 138,057 | 80.74% for storms |
Storms Loss |
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.