In 2005, more than 97,000 people lost their lives due to natural catastrophes or man-made disasters, reinsurer Swiss Re says. Around a third of these disasters were covered by insurance.
These are the startling figures released by insurance group, The Swiss Re. Its statistics for 2005 counted almost 400 catastrophes, which caused damage totaling more than $230 billion. The group said that just one third, or $83 billion, of this was covered by insurance.
According to the statistics, Hurricane Katrina entailed the highest total damage by far, at $135 billion. Hurricane Wilma ranked second, with destruction amounting to $20 billion, followed by hurricanes Rita at $15 billion and Dennis at $4 billion. The total damage of the Kashmir earthquake is estimated to be $5 billion.
Man-made disasters triggered damage totaling $10 billion, the most costly being the terrorist attack in London in July, explosions in oil processing plants in Canada in January and in the US in March, and the riots in France in October and November.