November’s Typhoon Goni “the strongest landfalling global storm on record”: Aon
Typhoon Goni in the Philippines was the strongest landfalling global storm on record, according to the latest edition of Aon’s monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report.
Meanwhile Hurricanes Eta and Iota became two of the fastest-intensifying storms in the Atlantic. Together, the three storms contributed to make November 2020 a record-breaking month for hurricanes.
Iota was also notable for being the latest-forming Category 5 storm on record for the basin, noted the Aon report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during November 2020.
While November did not see storms that set any new financial loss milestones, “the scientific records serve as a reminder of the risks posed to both developed and emerging markets,” said Michal Lörinc, catastrophe analyst for Aon’s Impact Forecasting team.
The Aon report reveals that Hurricane Eta made landfall and caused extensive losses in Nicaragua, before moving to Honduras and Guatemala. It subsequently making landfall in south central Cuba as a tropical storm.
Total economic losses in Central America were estimated at nearly $7 billion, most of which were uninsured.
Eta later made two landfalls in Florida as a tropical storm, prompting locally heavy rainfall and flash flooding, storm surge, and tropical storm-force wind gusts across the state. Total US economic losses were tentatively estimated at $1.1 billion, with public and private insurers covering approximately half of the loss.
Hurricane Iota became the first Category 5 hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Season on November 16, making landfall in Nicaragua on the same day. The storm produced dangerous coastal and inland flooding in addition to high wind across Central America, with extensive impacts experienced in Nicaragua and Honduras.
Damage was compounded as many localities were still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Eta. Total economic losses were expected to reach $1.25 billion, most of which will be uninsured.
Meanwhile, in Asia, Super Typhoon Goni attained one-minute average sustained winds of 315 kph (195 mph), before making landfall near Bato town in Catanduanes Province of the Philippines on November 1. At least 31 people were killed and nearly 400 others were injured. Approximately 250,000 homes and thousands of other structures were damaged or destroyed, and a vast area of agricultural land was also affected.
Economic losses to agriculture and infrastructure alone were estimated at around $415 million, amid an overall economic toll expected to approach $1 billion.
Aon noted November also saw four notable severe weather outbreaks in the US, with straight-line winds, tornadoes and large hail. Compound economic losses were estimated to exceed $1 billion, with the most notable effects in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.
In Europe, “extremely intense rainfall” hit the Valencian Community region in eastern Spain on November 5-6, causing notable flooding, with the Spanish Insurance Consortium estimating property-related losses of €82 million.
