El Niño is set to continue to intensify in the coming months and could force global drought losses above the current forecast of $8 billion in economic damage, according to Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Recap report.
Severe drought conditions have persisted in western regions with total economic losses expected to reach at least $3 billion, mostly attributable to agricultural damage in California.
Drought conditions also affected Eastern Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America during August, with combined economic losses of more than $2.6 billion occurring in Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland.
Steve Bowen, impact forecasting associate director and meteorologist, said: "As we continue to see the prospect of El Niño becoming one of the strongest in decades, more and more impacts will be apparent around the world. This is already true in the form of global drought losses, as several countries have endured a severe lack of rainfall and agricultural impacts.”
“On the flip side, tropical cyclone activity in the Pacific Ocean maintained its torrid pace in August due to above-average sea surface temperatures and favorable atmospheric conditions. Multiple landfalling storms in Asia-Pacific left considerable damage, and more activity is expected as we enter the peak of the cyclone season.”
Elsewhere during August, Super Typhoon Soudelor tracked through Saipan, Taiwan, and China causing, economic losses in excess of $3.2 billion.
Soudelor was followed by Typhoon Goni, which wrought havoc in Philippines, the Korean peninsula, and Japan, killing at least 70 people, damaging tens of thousands of homes and causing economic losses well into the hundreds of millions of US dollars.
