Flooding and storms in Europe result in significant economic losses in November, with the impact in Italy alone expected to near the equivalent of £1.5bn. This is according to Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap report, evaluating the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during November 2019.

Flooding and inland storms, it said, led to multi-billion-dollar economic loss in western and southern Europe during the month. Italy suffered the majority of losses as an active stretch of cyclonic weather resulted in significant flooding and severe weather. Venice experienced on 12th November the second highest tide on record since 1923, while a pattern of flooding and severe weather in the days running up to then caused additional widespread damage across Italy and parts of Austria.

Catastrophe analyst within Aon’s Impact Forecasting team, Michal Lorinc said: “Despite a costly November resulting from major flooding events in the UK, France, Italy and Austria, European insurers have generally endured manageable losses thus far in 2019. The flood peril has also recently been active across East Africa as excessive rainfall and flooding has led to significant humanitarian impacts. The issue of financial maturity remains an important topic in different parts of the world. The insurance industry is expected to play an even more integral role in helping to introduce sustainable and tailored products and solutions to further promote resilience and preparedness.”

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