China's economic loss from Typhoon Lekima estimated at $10b

At least 149,000 homes and 1.1 million hectares of cropland were damaged or destroyed.

Economic loss in China following Typhoon Lekima in August was estimated to reach $10b (CNY 72b), placing it as the deadliest and costliest storm to hit the Western Pacific in 2019, professional services firm Aon reported.

At least 71 people in China and two in Taiwan were killed or missing due to the passage of the typhoon. A damage assessment made by the government revealed that at least 149,000 homes and 1.1 million hectares of cropland were damaged or destroyed.

Lekima came ashore Zhejiang Province as a 110 mph Category 2 storm on 10 August.

In India, monsoonal rainfall spawned widespread flooding in several states, which left at least 287 people dead or missing and damaged or destroyed more than 50,000 homes and other structures.

Preliminary economic damage costs in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka alone were listed at US$5.54b (INR398b). The overall nationwide cost is expected to be higher.

“The need to better understand the hydrological impacts in developed and emerging markets will become more important as vulnerabilities increase. Tools such as catastrophe modeling can help aid in developing new methods of hazard mapping and subsequent warning for future perils,” Aon analyst Michal Lorinc said.

Additionally, a major heat wave struck Japan that killed 162 people and hospitalised 18,347 from 29 July to 5 August due to heat stroke.