Hurricane Ian caused at least $50 billion in losses, the largest record since Hurricane Katrina

A new report says Hurricane Ian, the Category 4 hurricane that devastated Florida and South Carolina earlier this year, caused the second-largest insured loss since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, CNBC reports. Analysts say the storm was also the year's costliest disaster.

Reinsurer Swiss Re found that Ian caused between $50 billion and $65 billion in insured damages after battering western Florida with extreme winds and torrential rain in September. Swiss Re says the damages underscore "the threat potential of a single hurricane hitting a densely populated coastline in an otherwise benign hurricane year."

The analyst found that, internationally, extreme weather disasters caused an estimated economic loss of $260 billion in 2022, surpassing the 10-year average of $207 billion. Insurances losses from natural disasters are also rising as climate change triggers more frequent and disastrous hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. The reinsurance firm estimated insurance loss damages of $115 billion, again higher than the 10-year average of $81 billion.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Martin Bertogg, head of catastrophe perils at Swiss Re, says 2022's high insurance losses are "underpinning a risk on the rise and unfolding on every continent."

"Urban development, wealth accumulation in disaster-prone areas, inflation and climate change are key factors at play, turning extreme weather into ever-rising natural catastrophe losses," Bertogg explained. "When Hurricane Andrew struck 30 years ago, a USD 20 billion loss event had never occurred before – now there have been seven such hurricanes in just the past six years."