Disasters caused Rs 1,000-cr loss to India in Jan: Report

Insurance and reinsurance companies have to make huge payouts from their reserves as the country does not have a catastrophe pool

India faced over Rs 1,000 crore ($185 million) losses due to the adverse winter weather in January, according to a report.

The Global Catastrophe Recap report, released by Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development centre at Aon Benfield, reviews the natural disaster perils worldwide during a particular period. It also said there were 329 deaths collectively in India, Bangladesh and Nepal due to cold wave.

The report reveals that the damages/loss due to the 329 deaths were unknown.

Unlike other nations, India does not have a catastrophe pool. Due to this, in the case of a natural disaster, insurance companies have to pay out from their own reserves. This results in a big hit for both insurers and the reinsurance companies, who make huge payouts during such situations.

In other parts of the world, China faced a triple whammy, with an earthquake, winter weather and drought causing $732 million-plus losses in the January-February period. The US was affected by four separate winter storms during February.

Steve Jakubowski, president of Impact Forecasting, said: "As was the case in January, flooding and active winter weather continued to produce the largest global loss events during February, with the US being particularly impacted by a series of powerful winter storms. While the damage was widespread, economic losses across the affected US states were within the expected range for events of this magnitude, and, in some cases, insured losses were actually lower than might have been expected."

The report further said flooding was prevalent across portions of South America, Asia and Europe during the month, with Peru and Bolivia among the hardest-hit, where seasonal rains killed at least 54 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 22,000 homes.
NATURE’S FURY ACROSS THE WORLD

• Rs 1,000 cr
  India’s financial losses due to adverse weather in January
• 329
  No. of deaths collectively in India, Bangladesh and Nepal due to cold wave
• $732 mn
  China’s losses due to an earthquake, winter weather and drought
• 54
  Number of deaths in Peru and Bolivia due to seasonal rain

Source: Global Catastrophe Recap