People help a man carry his two-wheeler on a cycle cart as they wade through a waterlogged subway in Chennai on Monday. Heavy rains continue to lash several parts of the city as the Meteorological Department alerted a cyclone warning on the Bay of Bengal coast. Photograph: PTI
India suffered a $3 billion loss to its economy from severe rainfall and flooding in November and early December, reinsurance broker Aon Benfield said in its monthly report on global catastrophes.
"New economic developments in Asia are taking place in flood plains and marsh lands with scant attention to drainage, thus increasing run-off and flooding," Adityam Krovvidi, head of impact forecasting, Asia Pacific, at Aon Benfield, said in a statement.
"The 100-year rainfall event in Chennai exposed the inherent weakness of the one-dimensional nature of this economic pursuit."
India's General Insurance Corporation reported insurance claims of around $300 million, Aon Benfield added, indicating low insurance penetration in India.
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