US Winter Storm Likely To Drive Multi-Billion Re/Insured Loss

Global insurers and reinsurers look set to incur costs stretching into the multi-billion-dollar range from the ongoing winter storm and severe cold weather impacting the United States and Canada.

The storm, which has been labelled the ‘blizzard of the century,’ has brought record low temperatures to parts of Montana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, and has led to an emergency declaration in New York State.

The city of Buffalo has been particularly hard-hit, where conditions including four feet of snowfall left residents trapped inside homes and cars over the festive period and claimed at least 63 lives.

Freezing temperatures with lows of -45C have stretched from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the Mexican border, and have caused mass disruption with some 20,000 flights cancelled across the Christmas weekend.

And while conditions are expected to improve this week, officials remain concerned that warmer weather could lead to further problems, including flooding and water damage as snow thaws and frozen pipes burst.