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Catastrophes, man-made disasters cause $20B in insured losses: Swiss Re

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Catastrophes, man-made disasters cause $20B in insured losses: Swiss Re

Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused insured losses of $20 billion in the first half of 2013, with floods a major contributor to that total, according to a Swiss Re Ltd. report released Wednesday.

The Swiss Re sigma study found that natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused economic losses of $56 billion and resulted in insured losses of more than $20 billion during the first six months of the year, $17 billion of the total due to catastrophes.

In the first half of 2012, natural catastrophes and man-made disasters caused insured losses of about $21 billion, Swiss Re said.

Floods caused insured losses of about $8 billion globally in the first half of 2013, the study said.

This makes 2013 already the second-most expensive year for flood losses, it said. In 2011, floods in Thailand alone caused losses of more than $16 billion, it said.

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Floods in Eastern and Central Europe in June of this year caused economic losses of about $18 billion and resulted in estimated insured losses of $4 billion, the study said.

Floods in Alberta, Canada, also in June, caused insured losses of about $2 billion, according to the study.

June floods in India resulted in the loss of at least 1,150 lives, the largest loss of life from a single event in the first half of 2013, Swiss Re said.

“Flooding continues to wreak havoc across all areas of the world. No-one is immune from this ever-present disaster threat,” Jens Mehlhorn, head of flood risk at Swiss Re, said in a statement. “While we cannot stop future floods, we believe that preventive actions can be taken to mitigate the overall impact of extreme weather events.”

Other large insured losses in the first half of the year included May tornadoes in the Midwest United States, which cost insurers an estimated $1.8 billion.

Cyclone Oswald, which struck Australia in January, also caused flooding and resulted in insured losses of $1 billion, according to the research.