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Report on Japan nuclear crisis said millions might need to leave homes; gov’t kept it secret
Report warns that contaminated areas might not be safe for “several decades”
Category: Natural Disasters
World underinsured against earthquake risk
Earthquake insurance penetration is highest in New Zealand, and is very low in Japan, particularly for commercial properties
Ottawa: Progress of Haiti recovery ‘disappointing,’ two years after earthquake
Only Afghanistan ($214 million) received more Canadian International Development Agency funding than Haiti ($209 million) for long-term development and reconstruction during the 2010-2011 fiscal period
Earthquakes, weather-related catastrophes make 2011 a record year for economic losses
Most – 90 percent – of the natural disasters were weather-related, but two-thirds of economic losses and about half of the insured losses were from geophysical events, principally from the large earthquakes
Officials: 4.0 magnitude quake in northeast Ohio related to wastewater injection well
The brine wastewater comes from drilling operations that use the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale
Top 10 Canadian weather stories of 2011
By ILSTV Staff on Dec 23, 2011 in Natural Disasters
Slow, long-lived floods tops Environment Canada’s weather stories for the year
Alberta windstorms cost $200 million in insured damage
“There is no doubt that we are seeing more and more the impact of severe weather in Alberta,” said IBC’s Doug Noble
14,000 US deaths tied to Fukushima Reactor fallout
“Based on our continuing research, the actual death count here may be as high as 18,000, with influenza and pneumonia, which were up five-fold in the period in question as a cause of death,” says study author
Catastrophes cost global economy a record $350 billion in 2011
2011 would have been the costliest year ever for the insurance industry if Japan had been more fully insured, says Swiss Re’s sigma team
U.S. sets record with a dozen billion-dollar weather disasters in one year
2011 breaks the previous record of nine billion-dollar weather/climate disasters in one year, which occurred in 2008
Catastrophe losses doubled in 2011
A.M. Best briefing says that in first nine months of 2011, U.S. P&C cat losses doubled the total year-end 2010 losses
Weather-related catastrophes on the rise in Asia Pacific
By ILSTV Staff on Nov 15, 2011 in Natural Disasters
Over the last 30 years, Asia Pacific has experienced more than 50 percent of all fatalities from natural catastrophes, almost 40 percent of all economic losses but less than 9 percent of the insured losses
Thailand floods could cost insurers at least $5 billion
The flooding has impacted 64 of Thailand’s 77 provinces, affecting more than 9.9 million people with at least 427 reported dead
Arson behind fire that ravaged Slave Lake: government
Total damage was pegged at $700 million, which insurance adjusters estimate makes it the second-costliest disaster next to the Quebec-Ontario ice storm of 1998, which cost about $1.8 billion
Insured losses from The Big One could reach $100 billion
A magnitude 9 earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone would affect the cities of Vancouver, BC, Seattle, WA, and Portland, OR, and a population exceeding 10 million
Snow on the pumpkin! Early storm pelts East Coast with wet, heavy snow; 2M lose power, 3 dead
By The Canadian Press on Oct 31, 2011 in Natural Disasters
It’s “Snowtober”: Mid-Atlantic storm knocked out electricity to more than 2 million homes and businesses
Flooding an underestimated catastrophe: Allianz
“Risk awareness of natural catastrophes is not sufficient. This also means that people often do not take enough precautions,” said Clement B. Booth, member of Allianz SE Board of Management
Canada’s National Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction
Government survey finds an increasing number of Canadians are preparing for emergencies and that two-thirds of adult Canadians (66%) say their family has taken action to prepare such as getting an emergency kit or making an emergency plan
Insured losses from Eastern Turkey earthquake estimated between $100 to $200 million
Total economic damage from this event is likely to reach the low single-digit billions, said EQECAT
