Risk & Business

According to an article on the BBC news website, Munich RE states that natural catastrophes caused less damage and claimed fewer human lives than the previous year. As compared to 2008 when there were an estimated $200bn in paid losses, 2009 saw a significant decline to approximately $50bn in paid losses for the year. The reinsurance giant stated that this was due to a significant decline in hurricanes this year. Of course, the company being based in Europe, a board member couldn't resist commenting on the lack of significant progress on climate change policy at the Copenhagen summit this past year. Interesting, there were fewer natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes, yet many still cling to the "climate change" canard. I know I spent allot of time pondering it as I was digging out from the recent snowstorm.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife My previous posts were discussing hurricanes, particularly Hurricane Bill. In case it wasn't picked up on it's important to realize that the one coverage important to a business owner close to a large body of water (ocean) is FLOOD . If there is an active hurricane forecast it's important to realize that no amount of $$ will get you coverage that day. Get your flood insurance in place now, let's not wait until it's too late.

Image via Wikipedia Based upon the most recent information available, the National Weather Service is cutting back it's forecast for this year's Atlantic hurricane season. The agency is citing the calming effects of El Niño contributing to their revised forecast. They do warn however that all those along the coast should continue to keep their guard up since there is always the possibility of a major storm cropping up unexpectedly.