Late-season winter storms cause damage in Europe, U.S. in March

Late-season winter weather was the cause for much of the damage inflicted by natural catastrophes in March, notes the latest monthly report from Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe modeling arm of Aon Benfield.

Europe was hit particularly hard by heavy snowfall, below freezing temperatures, high winds, ice and flooding, and the continent has at least 30 deaths related to the weather, the Global Catastrophe Recap for March says.

France, Germany and Ukraine were among the worst affected, with snow accumulations reaching more than 50 cm, Impact Forecasting notes.

Total economic loss estimates for Europe are about $1.8 billion, with about $914 million in France alone, according to the report. More than 100,000 claims were filed in France, and auto claims surpassed $131 million, Impact says.

The United States’ eastern seaboard also saw heavy snow and coastal flooding in the beginning of March and again toward the end of the month, Impact notes. Total combined economic losses from those events are reportedly less than $100 million, the company says.

Northern Japan was also affected by heavy snowfall in early March, with snow as deep as 5.5m (16 feet) reported in Hokkaido and northern Honshu, the report says. Local government spent more than $14.2 million on cleanup costs, according to Impact.

“The run of frequent winter weather we witnessed in January and February lingered across many of the major economies in the Northern Hemisphere in the month of March,”  Steve Jakubowski, president of Impact Forecasting noted in a statement. “However, the level of losses sustained has not been overwhelming for the industry despite the volume of events during the first quarter of 2013.”

March was also marked by a hail and wind storm event in the southeast U.S., isolated tornadoes in China and heavy rains in parts of South America.

The full recap report is available on Aon Benfield’s website.