Swiss Re has published its report on the 2009 natural catastrophes

Sigma, Swiss Re's review, estimated that the natural catastrophes which occurred in 2009 could amount to 26 billion USD. That is half as much as in 2008 (52 billion USD). According to Swiss Re's analysts, this figure is accounted for by a mild cyclonic season in the United States. The most costly event has been storm Klaus which hit both France and Spain particularly in January 2009 and which caused damages worth 3.2 billion USD. Man-made disasters have resulted in losses estimated at 4 billion USD. The June 2009 collision between a ship and an off-shore platform in the North Sea along with the explosion of an oil rig in August in the Indian Ocean stand as the most important technological catastrophes.