The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the US experienced a record-high 22 weather disasters with damage estimates of at least $1 billion apiece in 2020. Aon's Steve Bowen noted that "people are moving at an accelerated rate into some of the most vulnerable areas for extreme weather," and "it is imperative that we improve awareness around people better preparing their home or business in the face of inevitable" hazards.

Traditional resinsurance capital hit an all-time high of $533 billion in the third quarter, thanks to a surge in the capital markets and $10 billion of new capital issued, Aon said. Overall reinsurance capital was at $625 billion worldwide in Q3, roughly matching its level from year-end 2019.

Flood damage resulting from intensifying rainfall accounted for $75 billion of the estimated $199 billion in US flood costs from 1988 to 2017, according to Stanford University researchers. The researchers have created a model to calculate the impact of climate change on such flood damage, and they say the model might also help assess how climate change has driven wildfire losses.

Vacancy rates across the office, apartment and retail asset classes all rose in the fourth quarter, and rents decreased, according to Moody's Analytics. It notes that the situation is "bleak, but not dire" while also saying that fundamentals will continue to decline in 2021.

President Donald Trump signed the Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation Act into law on Jan. 1, providing a $200 million revolving loan fund through which the Federal Emergency Management Agency can fund flood mitigation and resilience projects. The program doesn't have obstacles associated with other FEMA grant programs, which may make it easier to obtain funding, according to Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is urging that Manhattan hotels and office buildings left largely vacant by the pandemic be converted to sorely needed affordable rental housing. The NYC Hotel Association and the Real Estate Board of New York support the idea, proposed as state legislation by the governor in his State of the State message Monday.

Organizations can no longer just prepare for one risk at a time -- the wildfires in the US hitting in the middle of a pandemic have illustrated that. We discuss how companies can prepare for co-occurring disasters during COVID-19 and beyond. Read more.

Aon President Eric Andersen recently sat down with Business Insurance and talked about risk management lessons learned during the pandemic and how companies are preparing for other long-tail risks. Watch here.