Insured losses from China’s Meranti Typhoon could exceed $1bn

Industry-wide insured losses in China from Typhoon  Meranti – which brought strong winds, high storm surge and flooding precipitation to southern Taiwan and eastern China’s Fujian Province – are likely to range between $650 million and $1.15 billion, according catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

The wide range of the modelled insured losses reflects both the meteorological parameters associated with this event and the uncertainty in the take-up rates (insurance penetration) for much of the region.

The cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou in China experience widespread power outages, flooding, disrupted water supplies and fallen trees.

In Taiwan, the storm resulted in downed trees and power lines, some coastal flooding, and mudslides in mountainous regions.

Typhoon Meranti intensified rapidly between September 11 and 12, with wind speed increasing more than 150 kilometres per hour in a 24-hour period, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

“It was the strongest storm in the world this year and the most intense typhoon since Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in 2013,” said Peter Sousounis, assistant vice president and director of meteorology at AIR Worldwide.

“Although Meranti did not make landfall on Taiwan, much of the country was impacted by high winds and substantial precipitation—rainfall totals as great as 700 millimeters (28 inches) have been reported—due to the massive, 560-kilometer (350-mile) wind field.”

Sousounis continued: “Having passed south of Taiwan on September 14, Typhoon Meranti made landfall at 3:05am local time on Thursday, September 15, in the Xiang'an District of Xiamen City, in eastern China's Fujian Province.

“Following its interaction with Taiwan, Meranti weakened significantly as it approached China and it came ashore with a JMA-estimated central pressure of 940 millibars, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane—the strongest typhoon in the region since 1949.”