Global disasters killed more, cost less in 2013

By: 11 years ago

In this Dec. 20, 2013 photo, a restaurant of Joseph Bonavitacola is filled with local villagers in Tacloban, Philippines. The Italian businessman, who has lived in the city for 20 years with his Filipino wife, reopened the place less than three weeks after Typhoon Haiyan devastated about 4,000 businesses. Only about 5 percent have reopened, officials say. AP

BERLIN — The German insurance company Munich Re says some 20,000 people died in natural disasters last year, about twice as many as in 2012.

Most of the deaths resulted from Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda in Manila) that hit the Philippines, Vietnam and China in November with a loss of almost 6,100 lives. This was followed by floods in India that killed about 5,500 people in June.

Munich Re’s annual disasters report released Tuesday found that the economic cost of natural catastrophes was lower last year.

Some 880 events cost about $125 billion, with insured losses of $31 billion. This compares with costs of $173 billion and insured losses of $65 billion in 2012.

The costliest natural disasters were summer hailstorms in Germany, floods in Central Europe, and storms and tornadoes in the United States.