The word catastrophe is not alien to us and particularly to citizens of the United States of America who witness largescale devastations each year, on account of the Atlantic hurricane season that lasts from June to November.

Last year’s statistics for catastrophe losses were calculated at a staggering 140 billion USD. This was still less compared to 2018’s calculation amounting to 176 billion USD.

Out of the 140 billion USD losses that occurred in 2019, 7 billion USD was due to man-made disasters. The rest of the amount was contributed by natural calamities. What is interesting to observe is that the first half of 2019 recorded minimal tropical activity. It was the second half that made a huge impact on insurance losses because of the large number of cyclone activities that took place towards the end of the year.

Dorian, the most destructive Hurricane of this season contributed to major devastations in the Bahamas and even caused destruction in North Carolina in the US, causing losses worth USD 4.5 billion. In other parts of the world, hurricanes dealt significant damage with instances such as cyclone Fani in India and cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique and neighboring countries.

Given the largescale devastations that took place over the world, a lot of governments are becoming more and more concerned about climate change and its impact on the frequency of such events. Worldwide, there is a growing concern about the alarming situation with scientists researching how to combat the onslaught in the most effective manner possible.