September marked by catastrophic rains, flooding in Asia

Catastrophic flooding from torrential rain in Pakistan and India was among the main events causing economic and insured losses in September, Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting arm says in its latest recap report.

In India’s Jammu and Kashmir region, the local government tentatively estimated economic losses of $16 billion, with insured losses estimated at $150 million, according to the global catastrophe recap report for last month, released Tuesday. All figures are in U.S. dollars.

In Pakistan, economic loss estimates for the province of Punjab alone are estimated to be PKR200 $2.0 billion, representing the fifth consecutive year that the country has endured a billion-dollar flood event.

Hard rain also hit parts of Thailand, China and northeastern India in September, causing combined economic losses of more than $2.1 billion.

“Floods causing significant economic losses are on the rise in Asia,” Adityam Krovvidi, head of Impact Forecasting for Asia Pacific commented in a statement on the report.

“Though the insured losses are very low for many events the potential for a big surprise like the 2011 Thai floods is high. Pearl River Delta and Ho Chi Minh City among others are good examples in the region,” Krovvidi noted.

“Impact Forecasting has recognized the potential for major insured losses and has been developing several realistic disaster scenarios (RDS) for Asian floods in addition to fully probabilistic models. Work is complete or in progress in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Jakarta and Malaysia.”

Flood events also hit the United States in September, particularly in Arizona, Nevada and California, with insured losses from one event there estimated to be $100 million.

Wildfires also burned across northern California , with the cost of fighting the fires and economic damages in excess of $100 million.

Elsewhere in September, Hurricane Odile became the strongest storm on record to make landfall on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, killing five people and injuring 135 others when it came ashore near Cabo San Lucas.

Infrastructure losses alone were listed at nearly $596 million, while Mexico’s National Commission of Insurance and Bonds reported that preliminary insured losses were at least $522 million, according to Impact Forecasting.