Catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has published its final industry loss estimate for Extratropical Windstorm Ciarán, which also went by the name Emir. The storm, which struck parts of France, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands on November 1 and 2 last year, was estimated to have caused the industry €2.07 billion.
The estimate is the culmination of PERILS’ progressive assessments since the storm, starting with an initial loss of €1.89 billion six weeks post-event, which was adjusted to €1.94 billion three months afterward and €2.04 billion after six months.
The detailed final report includes a breakdown of losses by CRESTA zones and by property lines of business, along with damage ratios that indicate losses as a percentage of insured sums.
Additionally, wind gust data from the German Met Office and EuroTempest support the findings. Together, the insights aid in refining vulnerability functions within catastrophe risk models, potentially enhancing future European windstorm risk assessment.
Windstorm Ciarán was anticipated well in advance, with regional forecasts accurately predicting its path and issuing timely warnings. Its impact was most pronounced over a narrow but intense wind band along the English Channel, reaching peak wind speeds in regions such as Brittany, Normandy, and the Channel Islands.
France bore the brunt of the storm, recording €1.77 billion in losses, making Ciarán the most significant windstorm event for the country since Windstorm Klaus in 2009. Losses were also substantial in the Channel Islands, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Reflecting on the storm, PERILS chief executive Christoph Oehy (pictured) stated: “While Windstorm Ciarán’s track meant that most of the losses were restricted to northern France and the Channel Islands, the industry loss was still considerable.
“It is easy to imagine that had the area of extreme winds been wider, or the storm tracked more to the south or north, many more insured assets would have been affected, and the industry loss would have been much bigger. As such, Ciarán was a narrow escape and serves as an important reminder of the destructive power of European windstorms.”
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