Record year for losses from natural disasters

1998 set a new record for economic losses from weather‐related disasters, according to the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.‐based think tank. At the end of November, global losses already had totaled at least $89 billion, an amount 48% more than the previous record loss of $60 billion during 1996. The disasters—including floods, hurricanes, droughts, and fires—also have claimed about 32,000 lives and displaced more than 300 million people, according to the group.