A monsoon enhanced by El Nino conditions is set to cause up to $3 billion worth of insurance claims after weeks of torrential rainfall in Southern India and Sri Lanka, according to the Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting, Global Catastrophe Recap report.
The monsoon has killed an estimated 386 people in the heavily affected states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The Chennai metropolitan region in India was particularly damaged by the event.
Adityam Krovvidi, head of Impact Forecasting in Asia Pacific, said: “New economic developments in Asia are taking place in flood plains and marsh lands with scant attention to drainage, thus increasing run-off and flooding.”
“Risk assessment can play a major role in awareness and insurance in mitigating the financial hardships. The large gap between the economic and insured loss from the Chennai flood event further emphasises the need for greater insurance penetration in large industrialised cities in Asia.”
He added: “This will become even more important as Asian megacities continue to grow and the risk of major urban flood events increases.”
