Monsoon floods inflict $20 billion of damage in July

Persistent seasonal rainfall worsened the flood situation across China’s Yangtze River Basin during July. The Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) noted that nearly 500,000 homes had been damaged or destroyed and 5.2 million hectares (13 million acres) of cropland affected. Direct seasonal economic losses were estimated at CNY150 billion ($22 billion), of which nearly $16 billion occurred in July. Most of the losses were anticipated to be uninsured.

Michal Lörinc, catastrophe analyst on the Impact Forecasting team at Aon, said, “An active monsoon season prompted more than $20 billion in flood-related damage in parts of China, Japan, India and Bangladesh during the month alone. Much of the physical damage to property, infrastructure and agriculture was anticipated to be uninsured – only reinforcing the importance of finding ways to help lower the protection gap across the region. Utilising tools such as catastrophe models can help aid in identifying areas of highest risk.”

Further natural hazard events to have occurred in July include:

• Record-breaking rainfall triggered widespread flash flooding and landslides across southern Japan from July 3-10, killing at least 82 people and injuring 114 others. Flood damage was most severe on Kyushu Island as dozens of prefectures reported varying levels of physical damage impacts to homes, businesses, infrastructure and agriculture. The event prompted a nearly $4 billion recovery effort by the federal government.

• Record-breaking rains, described as a 1-in-500-year event by the Meteorological Service of New Zealand, triggered flash flooding and landslides in northern and western New Zealand on July 17-18. Thousands of homes and a vast area of agricultural land in Northland were inundated. Local authorities of New Zealand expected a multi-million-dollar level of direct damage and economic loss.