Last year’s tropical storms cost insurance companies a record breaking $360 million dollars, according to the Director of the Camara de Terremoto of the Colombian Federation of Insurers (Fasecolda).
“In monetary terms, this is the biggest natural disaster that we have paid for,” said director Carlos Varela who explained that within Colombia the departments of Valle del Cauca and Atlantico reported the most damages between 2010 and 2011.
Out of the total reported damanges, more than 50% belonged to businesses that suffered due to flooding and landslides, however Varela commented that most “homes have extremely low insurance coverage.” A recent government report found that last year’s floods left more than 2.3 million people homeless and destroyed or damaged nearly 900,000 homes.
Colombia is not ready to face the upcoming rainy season as the country’s infrastructure has not been properly reinforced after the last rainy season’s devastating floods, reported the Colombian Federation of Municipalities. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said Sunday that the country needs to quickly implement reconstruction works to prepare for the upcoming rainy season, which is expected to be more destructive than the last.
Varela warned that with more rain the costs could continue to rise.