16 September 2016Insurance

Meranti most powerful typhoon in decades in Southeast China: AIR

Super Typhoon Meranti, which made landfall in China’s Fujian Province at 3:05am local time on September 15, is the strongest recorded typhoon in the region since 1949, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

Upon coming ashore, Meranti had a central pressure of 940 millibars, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane.

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

According to AIR Worldwide, windows on tall building have shattered and a Song dynasty wooden bridge has washed away, along with three other historic bridges – around 800 years old each – have been damaged.

“Fujian is one of the Chinese provinces most often affected by typhoons, but exposures in the province are somewhat protected by Taiwan, which lies directly to the east across the Taiwan Strait,” said Peter Sousounis, assistant vice president and director of meteorology at AIR Worldwide.

“Although storms that interact with the mountainous terrain of Taiwan may regain typhoon status before making landfall on China’s mainland coast, they are typically weakened.

“Even these weakened storms, however, can bring heavy rainfall and significant flooding, which can contribute more to insured losses than typhoon winds.

“The region experiences 10 times as many weak typhoons as strong ones. Meranti has weakened considerably after making landfall on Mainland China and as the remnants move towards Shanghai, it is still capable of delivering dangerous wind gusts and heavy precipitation.”

Prior to making landfall, the China Meteorological Administration issued its highest alert warning and the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center upgraded its warning for ocean waves to ‘red’.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, fishing boats recalled, ferry services suspended, and many flight services were cancelled.

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30 September 2016   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.