2017 Set a Record for Losses From Natural Disasters. It Could Get Worse.<br />Insurers are set to pay out a record $135 billion to cover losses from natural disasters in 2017, the world’s largest reinsurer<br />said Thursday, driven by the costliest hurricane season ever in the United States and widespread flooding in South Asia.<br />While it was still difficult to attribute individual weather events to climate change,<br />he said, “our experts expect such extreme weather to occur more often.”<br />The United States made up an unusually high share of global insured losses last<br />year — about 50 percent, compared with just over 30 percent on average.<br />Together with Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the 2017 hurricane season caused the most damage ever, with losses reaching $215 billion.<br />Insured losses from weather-related disasters were at a high, making up most of the $135 billion.<br />“Some of the catastrophic events, such as the series of three extremely damaging hurricanes, or the very severe flooding in South Asia after extraordinarily<br />heavy monsoon rains, are giving us a foretaste of what is to come,” Torsten Jeworrek, a Munich Re board member, said in a statement.<br />Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas in August, was the most costly natural disaster of 2017, causing losses of $85 billion.
