Executive summary “n 2015… there ere a recor‚ 1†‡ natural here ere 5 ‚isaster events in 2015… of hich 1†‡ ere natural catastrophes… catastrophesˆ the hihest ever recor‚e‚ in one yearˆ here ere 155 man‰ma‚e eventsˆ Šore than 26 000 people lost their lives or ent missin in the ‚isasters… ‚ouble the number of ‚eaths in 201„ but ell belo the yearly averae since 1††0 of 66 000ˆ he biest loss of life – close to †000 people – came in an earthŒua€e in Nepal in Aprilˆ –lobally… total losses from ‚isasters ere otal economic losses cause‚ by the ‚isasters in 2015 ere Ž‘’ †2 billion… ‚on Ž‘’ †2 billion in 2015… ith most in from Ž‘’ 11 billion in 201„ an‚ belo the inflation‰a‚ uste‚ averae of Ž‘’ 1†2 Asiaˆ Close to †000 people ‚ie‚ in an billion for the previous 10 yearsˆ Asia as har‚est hitˆ he earthŒua€e in Nepal as earthŒua€e in Nepalˆ the biest ‚isaster of the year in economic‰loss terms… estimate‚ at Ž‘’ 6 billion… inclu‚in ‚amae reporte‚ in “n‚ia… China an‚ ”anla‚eshˆ Cyclones in the •acific… an‚ severe eather events in the Ž‘ an‚ Europe also enerate‚ lare lossesˆ “nsure‚ losses ere Ž‘’ billion… lo –lobal insure‚ losses from catastrophes ere Ž‘’ billion in 2015… ell belo relative to the previous 10‰year averaeˆ the inflation‰a‚ uste‚ previous 10‰year averae of Ž‘’ 62 billionˆ he relatively lo level of losses as larely ‚ue to another benin hurricane season in the Ž‘ˆ El Niño in 2015 contribute‚ to eather patterns ‚eviatin from averae climate normsˆ ˜or instance… tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic as suppresse‚… hile the •acific ™cean basin ha‚ a very active seasonˆ he biest insure‚ loss of the year came ™f the insure‚ losses in 2015… Ž‘’ 2‡ billion ere attribute‚ to natural catastrophes from the explosions that roc€e‚ the •ort šabout the same as in 201„› an‚ Ž‘’ † billion to man‰ma‚e events šup from of ian in in China in Auustˆ Ž‘’ billion›ˆ he biest insure‚‰loss as cause‚ by the to massive explosions at the •ort of ian in in China in Auust… ith an estimate‚ property loss of Ž‘’ 2ˆ5 billion to Ž‘’ ˆ5 billion… ma€in it the larest ever recor‚e‚ man‰ma‚e insure‚ loss event in Asiaˆ he next biest insure‚‰loss event as a inter storm in the Ž‘ in ˜ebruaryˆ Another feature of 2015 as that it ill ’espite a harsh inter season in the Ž‘… overall 2015 as the hottest year since 1 o ‚on as the hottest year on recor‚ˆ 1‡50ˆ Exceptionally hih temperatures an‚ lac€ of rainfall cause‚ ‚rouht an‚ Šany reions experience‚ ‚rouht an‚ il‚fires in many reionsˆ “n Europe… summer temperatures remaine‚ above 0°C for il‚fires … lon stretchesˆ Countries in Eastern Europe ere particularly har‚ hit ith ‚rouht con‚itions linerin throuh to the en‚ of the yearˆ he Ž‘ experience‚ its orst year for il‚fires since 1†60 because of the heat an‚ ‚ry con‚itionsˆ žeataves claime‚ a number of lives all over the orl‚ˆ … althouh some countries… such as here ere also severe precipitation eventsˆ “n “n‚ia… the city of Chennai as “n‚ia… the ŽŸ an‚ the Ž‘… experience‚ paralyse‚ by floo‚in after accumulate‚ rainfall of more than 500 mm in November severe rain an‚ floo‚in eventsˆ aloneˆ ƒare sathes of the northern ŽŸ ere un‚er ater in ’ecember ‚ue to heavy rains from three separate stormsˆ •reliminary estimates put the insure‚ losses from the ŽŸ floo‚s at aroun‚ Ž‘’ 2 billionˆ “n several states in the Ž‘… tropical storm activity enerate‚ heavy rains an‚ severe floo‚in in certain areasˆ Countries in Africa… in particular Šalai… Ÿenya an‚ Ša‚aascar… experience‚ severe floo‚s alsoˆ his sigma inclu‚es to feature “n vie of the lare earthŒua€e that struc€ Nepal in April 2015… tremors of hich chapters… one on the ian in explosions ere also felt in ’elhi… this sigma assesses the loss potential of a similarly intense an‚ another on the use of technoloy in event closer to the “n‚ian capital cityˆ he result is total losses in ’elhi of at least ‚isaster manaementˆ Ž‘’ „ billion… larely uninsure‚ˆ he sigma also inclu‚es a special chapter on the explosions in ian in… hich have put a spotliht on accumulation ris€ in lare transportation hubs such as portsˆ Šany assets in ian in – in particular hih‰value cars in transit at the port – ere ‚estroye‚ by the explosionsˆ his… an‚ the imposition of an exclusion one at the site… ma‚e it very ‚ifficult for insurers to assess the lossesˆ ˜inally… there is also a feature on the use of aerial an‚ ‚iital technoloies in ‚isaster ris€ manaementˆ 1 “2015: the armest year on recor‚… scientists say”… metoffice.gov.uk… 16 ¤anuary 2016… http://ˆmetofficeˆovˆu€/nes/releases/archive/2016/2015‰lobal‰temperature Swiss Re sigma No 1/2016 1
Natural Catastrophes And Man-Made Disasters In 2015 Page 1 Page 3