Smackdown! 2014’s costliest, most deadly weather event to date struck in July

Aon Benfield’s catastrophe-model development center Impact Forecasting has revealed in its newly released 2014 Global Catastrophe Recap report the costliest weather events for the month of July, including major thunderstorms, flooding and not one but two super typhoons.

As it happens, one of these events has proven the costliest weather event to date thus far in 2014.

Click through to learn the Top 10 most costly weather events for July, and the worst of event of them all in the year to date—which caused more than 200 deaths.

Storm clouds over Milan on July 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

10. Severe weather in Western and Central Europe (7/8-7/11)

Deaths: 5

Structures/Claims: Thousands-plus

Economic Losses: $200 million-plus

Violent thunderstorms and torrential rains battered western and central Europe between the 8th and 11th, killing at least five people, says Impact Forecasting. Some of the hardest-hit areas were northern Italy, southeast France, Bulgaria, Germany and the Czech Republic where the storms wrought large hail, high winds and flash flooding. Thousands of properties were damaged, as well as swaths of agricultural crops.

9. Severe weather in China (7/19-7/20)

Deaths: 5

Structures/Claims: 5,000-plus

Economic Losses: $275 million-plus

Severe thunderstorms hit China’s Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Heilongjiang provinces on the 19th and 20th, taking the lives of at least five people. Hail and flooding rains from the storms led to more than 5,000 homes sustaining damage and thousands of hectares (acres) of cropland to be impacted.

8. Severe weather in the Central and Eastern U.S. (7/7-7/9)

Deaths: 5

Structures/Claims: 45,000-plus

Economic Losses: $350 Million-plus

Thunderstorms caused widespread damage from the Rockies to the Northeast between the 7th and 9th, Impact Forecasting says, as hail, damaging winds, flash flooding and even isolated tornadoes were all recorded. Some of the most significant impacts were felt in the states of New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where as many as 11 confirmed tornadoes touched down and straight-line winds gusted in excess of 70 mph (110 kph). Elsewhere, storm damage was cited in Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri.

7. Super Typhoon Neoguri, in Japan (7/8-7/11)

Deaths: 7

Structures/Claims: 1,554-plus

Economic Losses: $485 million-plus

Super Typhoon Neoguri made landfall in Japan’s Kyushu Island as a tropical storm on the 10^th after first hitting Okinawa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. At least seven people were killed and 66 others were injured. The most significant damage occurred in Okinawa, Impact Forecasting says, where the storm’s high winds and torrential rains damaged hundreds of homes and decimated local agriculture. On the Japanese mainland, tropical storm-force winds and flooding rains prompted landslides in multiple prefectures.

6. Severe weather in the Central and Eastern U.S. (7/26-7/28)

Deaths: 0

Structures/Claims: Thousands-plus

Economic Losses: Hundreds of Millions

Severe thunderstorms swept across portions of the Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast between the 26th and 28th, causing widespread damage in more than a dozen states, according to Impact Forecasting. The stretch was highlighted by a rare EF-2 tornado in Suffolk County, Mass. that damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes in the greater Boston area. Elsewhere, parts of eastern Tennessee and Michigan endured tornado touchdowns, hurricane-force winds and golf ball-sized hail that caused widespread property damage.

5. Flooding in China (7/3-7/7)

Deaths: 36

Structures/Claims: 10,000-plus

Economic Losses: $547 million-plus

Monsoonal rains buffered southern parts of China between the 3rd and 7th, driving floods that left at least 36 people dead or missing. The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) estimated that more than 10,000 collapsed due to flooding and landslides, with parts of the Guizhou and Yunnan provinces sustaining the worst impacts.

4. Typhoon Matmo, in Taiwan, China and the Philippines (7/22-7/24)

Deaths: 15

Structures/Claims: 30,000-plus

Economic Losses: $570 million-plus

Typhoon Matmo made separate landfalls in Taiwan and China between the 22nd and 24th after first passing by the Philippines, Impact Forecasting says. At least 15 deaths were attributed to the storm. In Taiwan, Matmo’s effects were felt across the entire island after rainfall totals reached nearly 23 inches in some townships. Agriculture was the hardest-hit sector, with losses totaling TWD 595 million (USD $20 million). In China, the storm caused widespread damage across the provincial regions of Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong and five others.

2. Drought in China (6/20-7/31)

Deaths: 0

Structures/Claims: Unknown

Economic Losses: $1.4 billion-plus

Severe drought conditions affected portions of nine northern Chinese provinces from late June through the month of July. The provincial regions of Shandong, Shaanxi and Henan were worst affected, where rainfall totals were at their lowest since 1961.

1. Super Typhoon Rammasun, in the Philippines, China & Vietnam (7/15-7/20)

Deaths: 206

Structures/Claims: 780,000

Economic Losses: $6.5 billion (highest to date in 2014)

Super Typhoon Rammasun made separate landfalls in the Philippines and China between the 15th and 20th, says Impact Forecasting, causing widespread damage and killing at least 206 people. Hundreds more were injured.

The typhoon was a Category 3 when it came ashore in the Philippines’ Albay Province as it damaged or destroyed nearly 500,000 homes and decimated swaths of agriculture and infrastructure. Total damages to each sector were listed at PHP 10.8 billion (USD $250 million). More than 272,000 homes were damaged. Additional flood and wind damage was reported in Vietnam, where 7,200 properties were affected.

Author: Shawn Moynihan, PropertyCasualty360.com