Swiss Re pegs Alberta floods as third-costliest disaster in 2013

The floods last June in southern Alberta are estimated by Swiss Re Ltd. as the third costliest disaster in 2013, when measured by insured losses.

Swiss Re released Wednesday its preliminary Sigma estimates of insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2013. The Swiss Re Sigma study, Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2013, will be published next spring.

Although Typhoon Haiyan was the disaster that killed the greatest number of people in 2013, insured losses were low, whereas hail and flooding in Germany, as well as tornadoes in the U.S., were among the 10 costliest disasters this year, Swiss Re stated Wednesday.

The reinsurer estimates total insured losses from disasters in 2013 are US$44 billion, down from US$81 billion in 2012.

The Sigma preliminary estimates of insured losses include property and business interruption but do not include either liability or life.

Swiss Re estimated insured losses from the Alberta floods at US$1.9 billion, with economic losses estimated at US$4.8 billion. Property Claim Services Canada estimated earlier those floods will be the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history when measured by insured property losses. The 1998 ice storm now ranks second, while the July 8 rain storm in Toronto is third. That storm did not make Swiss Re’s top 10 for 2013 released Wednesday.

The top two in the preliminary Sigma estimates hit Germany. Swiss Re said Wednesday it estimates the most costly insured loss in 2013 was the floods in Central Europe, at US$4.1 billion insured losses and US$18 billion in economic losses.

AIR Worldwide had reported that between May 29 and June 6, more than 300 mm of rain fell on some areas of Central Europe. Several levees on the Elbe River were breached, while in Passau, where the Danube meets the Inn and Ilz rivers, floodwaters hit their highest level since 1501. The Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Switzerland were also affected.

Those floods, Swiss Re noted Dec. 18, rank “as the second most expensive fresh water flood event on sigma records, but is a distant second to the 2011 Thailand flood, which led to insured claims” of more than US$16 billion.

The Swiss Re Sigma preliminary estimates peg Hailstorm Andreas as the second-costliest event in 2013, with US$3.4 billion in insured losses and US$3.8 billion in economic losses.

AIR reported last summer that several severe hail events occurred July 27 and 28, ahead of a low pressure system named Andreas. It produced hailstones as large as 12 in Germany.

Two of the other disasters that made Swiss Re’s top 10 also hit Europe, while four affected the United States.

The fourth costliest disaster in 2013 was a series of thunderstorms and tornadoes in May. On May 20, a 1.3-mile-wide tornado hit the Oklahoma suburb of Moore. Swiss Re estimated this disaster resulted in US$1.8 billion in insured losses and US$3.2 billion in economic losses.

The fifth costliest was a thunderstorm that brought hail and a tornado to the U.S. in March. The insured losses were US$1.6 billion and economic losses were estimated at $2.2 billion.

That National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported last March that an intense line of thunderstorms, known as a derecho, moved through central Alabama March 18th. Winds of speeds up to 88 mph, baseball-sized hail and a tornado were all reported.

Swiss Re reported Wednesday that “overall economic losses from this year’s catastrophic events” were US$130 billion, down from US$196 billion in 2012.

“The total loss of life climbed to around 25,000 from 14,000 last year,” Swiss Re added.

Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines, is the highest loss of life (about 7,000) from a single event in 2013.

“Despite the devastation wreaked, insured losses are expected to be modest as insurance penetration is low in the country,” Swiss Re stated of Haiyan.