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Chinese flooding dominates July cat bill

Six weeks of flooding in China has caused economic damage of more than $US10 billion ($12.67 billion) and nearly 200 deaths, according to Impact Forecasting’s catastrophe recap for last month.

Hunan was the worst-affected province as the Xiangjiang River crested to record levels. More than 412,600 homes were damaged across 11 provinces, and 3.4 million hectares of farmland was under water.

Turkey also had a costly month, with torrential rain on July 17 and 18 damaging streets, cars and train stations, with claims so far totalling 116 million lira ($41.5 million).

Severe thunderstorms in Istanbul on July 27 have led to 22,000 claims. Payouts could reach 1.2 billion lira ($429.29 million).

The US, Canada, Portugal, France and the Balkans region experienced wildfires, with Canada the worst affected, sustaining economic losses of more than $US78 million ($98.81 million).

Severe thunderstorms and flooding affected many parts of the US, with combined economic and insured losses expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

Flooding and landslides damaged more than 2600 homes and buildings in Fukuoka, Oita, Shimane, Kumamoto and Hiroshima prefectures of Japan, with economic losses expected to be near $US1 billion ($1.26 billion).

Monsoon rains in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, while seasonal rain in Thailand left at least 23 people dead and economic damage of more than $US300 million ($379.8 million).

Flash-flooding in northern Switzerland prompted payouts of nearly $US90 million ($113.99 million).

Italian officials say prolonged drought conditions have cost the economy €2 billion ($2.97 billion) in economic losses, according to modeller Impact – a subsidiary of Aon Benfield.

Vietnam sustained $US44 million ($55.73 million) of economic damage from Tropical Storm Talas, while strong earthquakes were recorded in the Philippines, Greece, Turkey and China.