This year’s ten most expensive weather disasters have caused more than 170 billion dollars in damage. That is twenty billion dollars more than in 2020, the British charity Christian Aid announced on Monday.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) calculates what floods, fires and heatwaves cost each year based on insurance claims.
The NGO says the upward trend reflects human-induced climate change. The most expensive disaster was Hurricane Ida, which swept the eastern US and caused roughly $65 billion in damage. The hurricane made landfall in Louisiana, made it’s way north and caused major flooding in New York and the surrounding area.
The deadly floods in Belgium and Germany in July amounted to 43 billion dollars. Limburg and North Brabant were also hit by flooding after prolonged rainfall. A cold snap and winter storm in Texas cost $23 billion, while floods in China’s Henan province in July caused an estimated $17.6 billion in damage.
Other disasters costing several billion dollars included flooding in Canada, late spring frosts in France that damaged vineyards and a cyclone in India and Bangladesh in May. Disasters in rich countries predominate because the infrastructure there is better insured, and the financial damage in poor countries is often incalculable.
Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, estimated that natural disasters and extreme weather events caused about $250 billion in damage this year in mid-December. According to the company, that increased almost a quarter compared to a year earlier.