Insured losses in first half of 2011 rank as second-worst calendar year losses since Katrina, Wilma and Rita

Insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters reached an estimated $70 billion in the first half of 2011, according to Swiss Re’s sigma report. This is more than double the $29 billion incurred in the first half of 2010.
Insured losses from natural catastrophes reached $67 billion in the first half of 2011, up from $27 billion in the year-earlier period.
This year has seen the highest level of earthquake losses and already ranks second in terms of overall catastrophe-insured losses, Swiss Re’s sigma reports.
The Mar. 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused more than $200 billion in total property damage, but private insurance only covered losses of up to $30 billion. “The aggregate total cost of the earthquake is likely to increase once the damage to nuclear facilities and business interruption costs are fully accounted for,” sigma notes.
February’s earthquake in Christchurch resulted in between $9 billion and $12 billion in insured losses.
Two U.S. tornadoes in 2011, one in Alabama and one in Missouri, combined to cause a further $12.5 billion in damage.
Overall, “at more than $70 billion in the first half alone, 2011 already ranks as the second-worst calendar year for catastrophe-insured losses on sigma records topped only by 2005, when hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita combined [for a] cost [of] over $90 billion.”