CHICAGO, March 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Impact
Forecasting, Aon Benfield's
catastrophe model development team, today launches the latest
edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which
evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred
worldwide during February 2015. Aon
Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor
of Aon plc (NYSE: AON).
The report reveals that five separate periods of heavy snow,
frigid cold, freezing rain and ice impacted the U.S. Northeast,
Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Plains and Southeast during the month,
killing 72 people. Boston
registered its snowiest and second-coldest February on record, and
was poised to challenge the winter season of 1995/96 as the
snowiest in its recorded history.
Early estimates suggest aggregated economic losses from the
events will be in the low-digit billions of dollars, with insured
losses likely to exceed USD1.0
billion.
Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting
senior scientist and meteorologist, said: "Prolific winter weather
highlighted a very active February for the eastern half of
the United States. Boston was the epicenter for record snowfall
that resulted from an onslaught of strong winter storm systems.
Arctic cold, including multiple returns of the Polar Vortex, also
contributed to residential and commercial losses that impacted
dozens of states. As we begin to transition to the start of the
severe weather season, it will be interesting to see if a cooler
pattern lingers into the spring months. Should such a scenario
occur, it is entirely possible that U.S. tornado totals could
remain at historically low levels for a fourth consecutive
year."
Elsewhere, two spells of winter weather impacted parts of
Europe and Asia. In Europe, 19 people died as heavy snow fell
across large areas of the continent resulting in power outages and
transport disruptions. While in Asia, large avalanches killed at least 286
people and destroyed 1,250 homes in Afghanistan.
Cyclones Lam and Marcia both made landfall in Australia within the space of six hours on
February 20, resulting in nearly
15,000 insurance claims as insured losses from Marcia alone reached
USD69 million. Combined economic
losses from the storms were preliminarily listed at USD312 million.
Meanwhile Tropical Storm Fundi brought torrential rain and
strong winds to Madagascar,
causing six fatalities and damaging almost 7,500 homes.
Flooding affected all six inhabited continents during February,
with the costliest event occurring in Indonesia, killing six people. Total damages
in Jakarta alone were listed at
USD235 million.
Other flood damage and fatalities were noted in parts of
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic.
A magnitude-5.2 earthquake struck China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on
February 22, damaging at least 3,000
homes and causing economic losses in excess of USD15 million.
To view the full Impact Forecasting February 2015 Global Catastrophe Recap report,
please follow the link:
http://bit.ly/1EO5t1Q
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:
www.aonbenfield.com/catastropheinsight
Further information
For further information please contact the Aon Benfield PR team:
Andrew Wragg (+44 207 522 8183 / 07595 217168) David Bogg or
Alexandra Lewis
Follow Aon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aon_plc
For information on Aon plc. and to sign-up for news
alerts: http://aon.mediaroom.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
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SOURCE Aon plc