The insurance and reinsurance industry loss from recent extratropical cyclone Herwart has been put at EUR 252 million by industry loss data aggregator PERILS AG, which is lower than other estimates for the impact from the October European windstorm.
PERILS EUR 252 million estimate is for losses across all countries affected by storm Herwart, which caused losses in Germany, Austria and Denmark, all countries PERILS reports on, as well as Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia which are not covered by PERILS.
An early estimate from actuarial firm Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK) estimated that the loss to German insurance interests would be EUR 250 million. Following that, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe risk modeling arm Impact Forecasting put the industry impact at EUR 300 million (approx US $350 million).
PERILS loss estimate is based on data collected from affected insurance and reinsurance companies in the region, rather than modelling or exposure data.
Storm Herwart struck Austria and Germany on 29th October 2017, causing significant damage, and also affected Denmark, but to a much lesser degree. Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were also all impacted and received damage from Herwart’s winds.
Herwart caused strong winds across Northern and Eastern Germany, but the rapid passage of the extratropical cyclone meant that the highest wind gusts only lasted for two to three hours. The highest recorded wind gust value was 176 km/h, measured in the Fichtelberg region of East Germany (Saxony).
Herwart struck Austria during the late morning and early afternoon, with strong winds mainly affecting the eastern half of the country. The highest wind gust in Austria was measured at 180 km/h on the Feuerkogel Mountain (Upper Austria, 1618 m a.s.l.).
Storm Herwart caused 11 fatalities as it passed through the region, one in Denmark, four in Germany, two in Poland and four in the Czech Republic.
So this isn’t a full industry loss estimate for the impacts of storm Herwart as it does not cover the entire affected region. Hence its safe to assume the full impact to insurance and reinsurance interests will be higher than the EUR 252 million estimate.
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