Global natural disasters wreak $160 bn damage in 2018; worst losses in US

Natural disasters including wildfires, hurricanes and tsunamis claimed 10,400 lives in 2018, says German reinsurer.

Natural disasters including wildfires, hurricanes and tsunamis inflicted $160 billion of damage and claimed 10,400 lives in 2018, German reinsurer Munich Re said Tuesday.

The financial toll was far below the $350 billion recorded the previous year in a record hurricane season, the firm said in its annual reckoning, but above the 30-year average of $140 billion.

As with the previous year the United States suffered the heaviest losses from disasters globally, with its second record wildfire season in a row. But it was given some respite from damaging storms, with the hurricanes hitting the country in 2018 inflicting far less destruction