Wildfires, storms hit U.S. and Canada hard in August: Aon Benfield

The United States and Canada have had billions of dollars of damages from wildfires, storms and a major hurricane, while South America and Oceania saw no major disasters in August, says an Aon Benfield report.

In the company’s Global Catastrophe Recap for August, it suggests that claims from storm damages in the Calgary area will reach the hundreds of millions of dollars, after up to six centimetres of hail hit parts of the region.

The report also suggests that total economic losses from Hurricane Isaac in the U.S. will reach the single-digit billions of dollars (USD).

Dozens of fires in Oklahoma also burned 110,000 acres of land and destroyed 603 homes in August, Aon reports. More than 1000 claims were made with payouts of more than US$30 million, according to the Oklahoma Insurance Department. It also reported that total economic losses from those fires could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, since 85% of the home damage was uninsured.

Six typhoons also cause billions in damage across eastern and southeastern Asia, while drought conditions continued in Italy and Russia in August. In Africa, a large portion of Sudan had its heaviest rainfall since 1988, while the worst flooding in 100 years occurred in Niger.

South America and Oceania had no major natural catastrophes in August, Aon reports.