NOAA Reviews 2012′s Billion-Dollar Disasters
The US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration [NOAA] has come out with its annual billion-dollar summary for American weather-related disasters in 2012 — with Hurricane Sandy and the extended drought alone costing Bermuda and global property and catastrophe insurers and reinsurers an estimated $36 billion in insured losses — and found it to be the second-costliest year since 1980, when the agency began totting up annual damages.
2012 saw 11 weather and climate disaster events each with losses exceeding $1 billion in damages.
The 2012 total damages rank only behind 2005, which incurred $160 billion in damages due in part to four devastating land-falling hurricanes including Katrina — which deluged New Orleans.
“The 2012 billion-dollar events included seven severe weather and tornado events, two tropical cyclone events, and the yearlong drought and its associated wildfires,” said NOAA in a statement. “These 11 events killed over 300 people and had devastating economic effects on the areas impacted. With 11 events, 2012 also ranks second highest in total number of billion-dollar events behind 2011, which had 14 events.
“The two major drivers of the damage costs in 2012 were Sandy at approximately $65 billion and the yearlong drought at approximately $30 billion. Sandy’s large size, with tropical storm force winds extending nearly 500 miles from the centre, led to record storm surge, large-scale flooding, wind damage, and mass power outages along much of the East Coast.”
NASA satellite photo of Sandy on October 28, 2012 as it took aim at the US East Coast
The yearlong drought, which affected more than half the country for the majority of 2012, was the largest drought extent in the United States since the 1930s. US Department of Agriculture Drought Disaster Declarations reached more than 2,600 of the nation’s 3,143 counties. While drought impacts are often most costly to agricultural centers, their conditions also led to several devastating wildfires that burned over nine million acres nationwide during 2012.
In preliminary estimates for insured losses released in December, Swiss Re said total insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters will reach approximately $65 billion in 2012 with the top five insured loss events all taking place in the US.
