The devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines is part of a global rise in catastrophic losses of which Canada is not immune, notes one industry expert.
“The trend is clear. In Canada, the previous four years losses due to catastrophes were near or above $1 billion. We have tripled that in 2013,” says Don Forgeron, president and CEO of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. “And looking specifically at total catastrophe losses for Alberta, the last few years shows a disturbing trend – over three years almost $3 billion over three years, and closing in on over $4 billion over five years.”
Describing Alberta as the natural disaster capital of Canada, Forgeron, points to the massive losses suffered by the province, compared to the rest of the country.
“Meanwhile the rest of Canada was at just over $2 billion for three years (in cat losses),” Forgeron told brokers gathered at a recent IBC symposium. “Just over $2.5 billion for four years and slightly over $3 billion for five years. The Alberta floods currently exceed $1.7 billion in insured losses. It is now the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history, and Alberta is the natural disaster capital of Canada.”
Although the flooding hit Albertans hard, the devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan is far greater. (continued.)
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According to the latest reports, an estimated 10,000 people have been killed in the Philippines by Haiyan, with the storm destroying around 70-80 per cent of structures in its path as it tore through Leyte province. Witnesses say several stores in Tacloban were looted, while automated teller machines were broken open.
Aerial surveys showed ships were thrown ashore and huge tracts of agricultural land were destroyed. A World Vision official said there were early reports that nearly 90 per cent of northern Cebu was destroyed.
With sustained winds estimated at 315 km/h at its first landfall, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the storm maintained impressive wind speeds as it traversed the Philippines. The national meteorological agency, PAGASA, reports that Haiyan made a total of six landfalls through the Visayas region before exiting into the South China Sea.
If the wind speed at landfall estimate from the JTWC holds true, Haiyan would be the strongest recorded cyclone to make landfall anywhere in the world. The previous storm to hold that record was Hurricane Camille, which made landfall on the Gulf Coast of the United States in 1969 with winds of 305 km/h. The strongest storm to make landfall in the Northwest Pacific before Haiyan was Super Typhoon Megi, which struck the Luzon region of the Philippines in 2010 with winds of 290 km/h.
In the Insurance Banana Skins report for 2013, the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation cites natural catastrophes as the top risk to property and casualty insurers globally. (continued.)
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“The last estimate on the Toronto floods was over $940 million. Both the Alberta and Toronto figures are likely to go higher,” says Forgeron. “We will likely see a year in which insurance CAT losses nationally rise to well above $3 billion.”
According to official government reports, more than 2 million families (nearly 10 million people) have been affected by the storm in the Philippines. The islands of Leyte, Samar, and northern Cebu are the worst affected.
Relief efforts from both national and international agencies are underway, but damage to infrastructure, including to roads and airport, are hindering operations. The economic cost of the typhoon is expected to be the highest from a natural disaster in the Philippines’ history, although only a small portion of it is expected to be insured.
