Giving Thanks for a Mild Atlantic Cyclone Season

Photo of Illinois tornado devastation. A concert "Rock to the
Rescue" will be held Dec. 4 for victims. Click here for details. 

By Mark E. Ruquet

The day after Thanksgiving this 2013, the insurance industry should be giving thanks to Mother Nature’s magnanimity. Unlike last year, when many of us here in the New York and New Jersey region were still reeling from Superstorm Sandy, we have avoided major tropical cyclone activity along the Atlantic, especially late in the year.

The tropical storm season for both the Pacific and Atlantic ends tomorrow, Nov. 30. Unless there is a sudden burst of cyclone activity, this year’s Atlantic season will prove to be one of the mildest in a while. In the Atlantic, there were 13 named storms this season. The worst of the Atlantic storms were Hurricanes Humberto and Ingrid in September with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. Of those two, only Ingrid made landfall, striking Mexico, which turned into a challenging weather event for the nation.

Mexico suffered a double whammy when Hurricane Ingrid and Hurricane Manuel in the Pacific struck the nation in the same week to produce close to $6 billion in economic loss and claim more than 200 lives. Aon Benfield put insured losses at close to $1 billion.

In terms of human and economic impact, Super Typhoon Haiyan is at the top of the list. The storm struck the Philippines Nov. 8 decimated Leyte province with sustained winds of 195 mph.  In terms of insured loss, this is a minor event. AIR Worldwide issued a statement estimating insured losses would range between $300 million and $700 million. However, in economic terms, the catastrophe modeling service put range of loss at $6.5 billion and $14.5 billion.

Victims of the typhoon are straining to recover and just survive. To get some money flowing into the economy locals are now hired to help with the clean-up. The death toll, estimated at 10,000, has officially climbed to over 5,000. Families struggle to put their lives back together after the loss of loved ones and their means of earning a living either from the loss of their livelihood or the family’s breadwinner.

Closer to home, storms have raised havoc over the Midwest once more, producing late season tornadoes that destroyed or damaged 1,000 homes around Washington, Ill. According to Insurance Journal, an official with catastrophe modeler RMS put the insured loss at around $1 billion, the first severe weather event of that size for the industry in November. A benefit concert "Rock to the Rescue" is scheduled for Dec. 4. 

Elsewhere in the world, winter storms in Europe have come as an unwelcomed surprise. A windstorm in late October, struck Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, and Sweden causing between $2 billion and $3 billion in insured damage. Torrential rainfall in Italy on Nov. 18 caused flash flooding in Sardinia, taking 17 lives and prompting Italian officials to declare a state of emergency.

Looking back, for us survivors of Superstorm Sandy, even those still waiting to get back into their homes a year later, we can be thankful we dodge the severe weather bullet this year—and we hope for decades to come.