Super Typhoon last month the costliest severe weather event so far this year

Super Typhoon Rammasun, which hit the Philippines and China in separate landfalls last month, proved to be the costliest severe weather event so far this year, resulting in economic losses of $6.5 billion, Impact Forecasting reported Wednesday.

In China, the Ministry of Civil Affairs reported that 272,000 homes had been damaged amid total economic losses of $6.25 billion, according to the July global recap report from Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development arm of Aon Benfield. All figures are in U.S. dollars.

In the Philippines, the storm caused total economic damages in agriculture and infrastructure of $250 million.

Last month, Typhoon Matmo also made separate landfalls in Taiwan and China, after passing over the Philippines. Total economic losses in Taiwan and China totaled $20 million and $550 million respectively.

Flooding also occurred in several areas of of Europe during mid to late July, affecting Bulgaria, Romania, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Croatia. Overall economic losses across the continent are expected to surpass $135 million, and preliminary insured losses were listed at nearly $20 million.

“Flood is consistently one of the most costly natural perils for insurers, reinsurers and economies worldwide, with three of the past five years experiencing global economic losses from flood that were far higher than the 10-year average of US$47 billion,” Adam Podlaha, head of Impact Forecasting, commented in a statement.

“Impact Forecasting has built numerous flood models to quantify clients’ regional exposures to flood risk, with a particular on central and eastern Europe, the U.S. and more recently Asia,” he noted.

“An updated version of our U.S. river flood model, which has been well-received by insurers and reinsurers as well as organizations with U.S. infrastructures, will be released in the third quarter this year. Existing and new users of the model will benefit from being able to track the impact of flood risk on their businesses using the latest data and insights.”

Elsewhere in July, two stretches of severe weather affected parts of the central and eastern U.S., with the most damaging event impacting areas from the Rockies to the Northeast, causing total economic losses estimated at $350 million and insurance losses of more than $225 million.

Washington’s Carlton Complex Fire also became the largest wildfire in the state’s history, killing one person and destroying at least 300 homes.

Photo: Residents wade through floods as they go back to their home while Typhoon Rammasun battered suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Wednesday, July 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)