India hit hard by storm in October, while U.S. sees record number of days without major hurricane

Cyclone Hudhud, which struck India and killed 68 people across four states, was among the worst natural catastrophes globally in October, Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting arm reported Wednesday.

The storm caused an estimated $11 billion of economic damage, while insured losses are expected to reach $650 million, the firm reported in its global catastrophe recap report for last month. All figures are in U.S. dollars.

Commercial, residential and agricultural lines of business in India were all heavily affected by the storm. After weakening, the cyclone also struck Nepal, causing avalanches and blizzards and killing 43 people.

Also last month, Japan was hit twice in a week by weakened Super Typhoons Phanfone and Vongfong, Impact Forecasting reported.

Of note, as of Nov. 1, the United States had gone a record 3,295 consecutive days without a major hurricane landfall (Category 3 or above).

“With one month remaining in the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the United States is close to completing another year without a significant landfalling hurricane event,” Steve Bowen, associate director at Impact Forecasting noted in a statement.

“However, insurers in Asia are coping with a series of cyclones that have led to considerable damage across the Western North Pacific and North Indian basins – most notably in India and Japan,” he said.

“The past two years of cyclone landfalls in Asia, including such storms as Fitow, Haiyan, Hudhud, Phalin, and Rammasun, have shown that tropical cyclones are becoming an increasingly costly peril for insurers with exposures outside of the U.S.”

Also in October, Bermuda was struck twice in under one week by Hurricane Fay and Hurricane Gonzalo, though insurers reported lower-than-expected losses of $100 million from both events.

Remnants of Gonzalo also later affected Europe, with damages in Netherlands, Germany, and Slovenia expected to reach $42 million.