Regional oeriew žeavy rainfalls triere‚ many severe Even thouh no hurricane ma‚e Ž‘ lan‚fall in 2015… tropical storm activity affecte‚ floo‚ events ‚urin the yearˆ several states in the form of intense precipitation… lea‚in to severe floo‚inˆ “n the sprin… the remnants of tropical storm ”ill brouht heavy rain an‚ floo‚in to ™€lahoma an‚ exasˆ “n ™ctober… ‚onpours ‚ue to žurricane ¤oaŒuin hit ‘outh Carolina an‚ li€eise le‚ to heavy floo‚inˆ ¨il‚fires are an ever‰present haar‚ in ™ther parts of the Ž‘ ere ‚ry… an‚ there ere several il‚fires ‚urin the yearˆ the Ž‘ˆ ’rouht con‚itions fuelle‚ il‚fires in California… the most fire‰prone stateˆ he most ‚estructive fire in terms of buil‚ins ‚estroye‚ š10› an‚ number of hectares burne‚ šover 0 000› as the ´alley ˜ire in ƒa€e County… Californiaˆ he insure‚ losses from this event alone ere ust over Ž‘’ 0ˆ† billion… ran€in sixth as the most costly il‚fire in the Ž‘ everˆ here ere also il‚fires in the estern states of ¨ashinton… ™reon an‚ Alas€a… an‚ in Cana‚aˆ “n terms of acres burnt š10ˆ1 million›6… 2015 as the orst year for il‚fires in the Ž‘ since 1†60ˆ µet hile the fires spanne‚ hue areas… only a fe urban areas ere impacte‚ meanin that resi‚ential property‰relate‚ losses ere limite‚ˆ “nsure‚ losses ere belo averae in “n Cana‚a… there ere fe natural ‚isasters in 2015 for a secon‚ year runninˆ he Cana‚aˆ biest loss‰in‚ucin event as a series of thun‚erstorms in Calary… Alberta… in mi‚‰Auust… lea‚in to insure‚ losses of Ž‘’ 0ˆ2 billionˆ Europe ˜loo‚in cause‚ the heaviest losses… “n Europe… natural catastrophes an‚ man‰ma‚e ‚isasters cause‚ total losses of particularly in the ŽŸˆ Ž‘’ 1 billion in 2015ˆ ™f those… Ž‘’ 6 billion ere insure‚ˆ he main losses came from heavy precipitation in estern countriesˆ “n ’ecember… severe floo‚in cause‚ ’urin the first ee€ of ’ecember… ‘torm ’esmon‚ brouht very heavy rainfall to ‚evastation across many parts of the north an‚ northest Enlan‚ˆ Šore than 500 houses ere floo‚e‚… most in north an‚ north estern ŽŸˆ Cumbria… an‚ several bri‚es ere ‚estroye‚ˆ ‘tartin from 22 ’ecember… ‘torm Eva brouht usts of more than 5 miles per hour… an‚ pushe‚ the rains south into µor€shire… ƒancashire an‚ –reater Šanchesterˆ hen… ‚urin the last ‚ays of the year… ‘torm ˜ran€ brouht more heavy rain across northern Enlan‚… “relan‚… Northern “relan‚ an‚ ‘cotlan‚ˆ “t as the ettest calen‚ar month an‚ the armest ’ecember in the ŽŸ since recor‚s bean in 1†10ˆ “n total… about 16 000 homes ere inun‚ate‚ as floo‚ ‚efences ere breache‚ˆ •reliminary estimates put the insure‚ losses from all the ’ecember rains an‚ floo‚in in the ŽŸ at aroun‚ Ž‘’ 2 billionˆ žoever… 2015 as also a hot an‚ ‚ry Earlier in the year… in ™ctober heavy rains an‚ floo‚in hit southeastern ˜ranceˆ year in Europe… lea‚in to increase‚ žoever… overall 2015 as a hot an‚ ‚ry year in continental Europeˆ “n ¤une an‚ mortality an‚ ‚rouhtˆ ¤uly… temperatures remaine‚ above 0°C for lon stretches in many countriesˆ A prolone‚ rainfall shortae that bean in April an‚ the hih summer temperatures cause‚ severe ‚rouht… hich affecte‚ soil moisture content an‚ veetation con‚itionsˆ Countries in Eastern Europe… particularly omania… ere severely affecte‚ an‚ ‚rouht con‚itions linere‚ throuh to the en‚ of the yearˆ he hih summer temperatures also claime‚ a number of victims across Europeˆ •reliminary estimates from statistical offices in‚icate a ‚eath toll of at least 1200ˆ here ere to terror attac€s in •aris in ™f man‰ma‚e ‚isasters… the most prominent event as a series of coor‚inate‚ 2015… the most ‚ea‚ly on 1 Novemberˆ terrorist attac€s in the ˜rench capital •aris on 1 November 2015ˆ ™ne hun‚re‚ an‚ thirty people lost their lives in simultaneous mass shootins… suici‚e bombins an‚ hostae ta€in at various locations in the city… an‚ 51 ere in ure‚ˆ “t as the biest loss of life in one event in continental Europe last yearˆ Also in •aris… in ¤anuary the offices of satirical maaine Charlie žeb‚o ere attac€e‚ˆ Eleven people ‚ie‚ˆ 6 “”illion‰’ollar ¨eather an‚ Climate ’isasters: able of Events”… ncdc.noaa.gov… accesse‚ in ¤anuary 2016… http://ˆnc‚cˆnoaaˆov/billions/events 7 “ecor‚in the eather across the ŽŸ”… blog.metoffice.go.uk… ¤anuary 2016… http://bloˆmetofficeˆovˆu€/2016/01/0‡/reportin‰the‰eather‰across‰the‰u€/ an‚ “2015 eather summary – ’ecember”… metoffice.gov.uk, 12 ¤anuary 2016… http://ˆmetofficeˆovˆ u€/climate/u€/summaries/2015/‚ecember ‡ Swiss Re sigma No 1/2016
Natural Catastrophes And Man-Made Disasters In 2015 Page 8 Page 10