The 10 most expensive weather disasters this year caused more than US$170 billion of damage, US$20 billion more than last year, a British aid group said yesterday.
Each year, UK charity Christian Aid calculates the cost of weather incidents such as flooding, fires and heat waves according to insurance claims, and reports the results.
Last year, it found the world’s 10 costliest weather disasters caused US$150 billion of damage, making this year’s total an increase of 13 percent.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Christian Aid said the upward trend reflects the effects of climate change, adding that the 10 disasters also killed at least 1,075 people and displaced 1.3 million.
The most expensive disaster this year was Hurricane Ida, which lashed the eastern US and caused about US$65 billion of damage.
After crashing into Louisiana at the end of August, it made its way north and caused extensive flooding in New York City and the surrounding area.
Spectacular and deadly flooding in Germany and Belgium in July was next on the list at US$43 billion in losses.
A cold snap and winter storm in Texas that took out the state’s power grid cost US$23 billion, followed by flooding in China’s Henan Province in July that cost an estimated US$17.6 billion.
Other disasters costing several billion dollars included flooding in Canada, a late spring freeze in France that damaged vineyards, and a cyclone in India and Bangladesh in May.
The report acknowledged that its evaluation mainly covers disasters in rich nations where infrastructure is better insured and that the financial toll of disasters on poor nations is often incalculable.
It gave the example of South Sudan, where flooding affected about 800,000 people.
“Some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2021 hit poorer nations, which have contributed little to causing climate change,” a statement said.
Earlier this month, the world’s biggest reinsurer, Swiss Re, estimated natural catastrophes and extreme weather events caused about US$250 billion of damage this year.
It said the total represented a 24 percent increase over last year and that the cost to the insurance industry alone was the fourth-highest since 1970.
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