The following are the world`s five biggest natural disasters in terms of insured losses, calculated in 2005 dollars.

August 2005 -- Hurricane Katrina hit Florida and then slammed into the Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans and sending a 28-foot-high (8.5-metre-high) storm surge into Mississippi and Alabama. US$45 billion.

August 1992 -- Hurricane Andrew battered Florida and the Bahamas. US$22.3 billion.

January 1994 -- The Northridge, California earthquake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, toppled buildings in southern California. US$18.5 billion.

September 2004 -- Hurricane Ivan rips through the Caribbean, battering oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and then hitting Florida, one of four hurricanes to crash into the state that year. US$11.7 billion.

September 2005 -- Following on the heels of Katrina, Hurricane Rita hits the Texas coast near Beaumont. US$10 billion. It is followed in October by Hurricane Wilma, another US$10 billion storm that cuts across southern Florida, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Eight of the 11 most expensive disasters in history, at least in terms of insured losses, have occurred along the US Gulf Coast in the past four years.
(Swiss Re and the Insurance Information Institute / Planet Ark, 05/05/2006)
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