(from the New York Times) Insured losses from weather-related disasters reached a record $135 billion in 2017, driven by three major hurricanes in the United States, widespread flooding in South Asia and a host of other calamities, including forest fires and hail-producing thunderstorms. Overall losses, including uninsured damage, came to $330 billion. About half of the damage occured in the U.S., where Hurricane Harvey alone ran up a bill of $85 billion and California's wildfires caused $8 billion in insured damages.
Reinsurance experts predict the storm tolls to continue or even worsen in 2018 and beyond. Factors include population growth in hurricane-prone warmer climates, poor construction quality, and continuing climate change and weather volatility.
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