July's catastrophes cause widespread losses globally: Aon Benfield

Floods in Pakistan and China have taken thousands of lives and damaged hundreds of thousands of homes, according to a new report on catastrophic events in July by a reinsurance team. A European heatwave, wildfires in Russia and heavy rains in Texas also took their toll in July, the report says. Impact Forecasting team, a division of Aon Benfield, reports that in Pakistan, more than 1,500 people died when monsoonal rains gave rise to flooding and landslides between July 21-29.