2011 disaster losses break records from previous years

This year was one that brought disasters to areas all around the globe, and these catastrophes came with record breaking bills that have left the figures from previous years behind. According to the data from Swiss Re AG, a reinsurance company, the quakes and tsunami in Japan, the earthquakes in New Zealand, the Thailand floods, and the large number of American tornadoes brought a global disaster loss total up to a staggering $350 billion. The tremendous amount of devastation brought production at factories to a grinding halt and cut off…

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Joplin tornado outbreak one of the most violent ever seen

Joplin, Missouri, is still reeling from a massive tornado that touched down late Sunday evening. The tornado is the deadliest since 1947, claiming 123 lives. That number is expected to rise, however, as rescue workers continue to sift through the wreckage. The insurance industry has responded well to the disaster, coming off the heels of April’s calamitous storms. EQECAT, a catastrophe modeling firm, has released their initial estimates of how much the disaster will cost insurers: $3 billion. Joplin stood directly in the path of the tornado, which first formed…

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Deadly Joplin tornado leaves town in pieces

A massive tornado brought havoc to Joplin Missouri this past weekend. As of Monday, the death toll is set at 116. City officials are calling the tornado the deadliest ever recorded since the National Weather Service began tracking such happenings 60 years ago.  The tornado, which touched down late Sunday evening, was classified as an EF-4 with winds exceeding 190mph. The damage is yet untold, but several neighborhoods have been utterly demolished. A state of emergency has been declared by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon. The event caught the attention of…

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