Insurance Loss Dependence on Typhoon Maximum Wind Speed, Translation Speed and Size over Japan

Abstract

We examined forty-five typhoons associated with insurance losses in Japan to explicitly describe typhoon-related variables that explain insurance-loss variations. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the combination of maximum wind speed and translation speed explained more of the variation in insurance-loss size than what the regression model with maximum wind speed alone did. Using maximum wind speed and gale-area radius as explanatory variables also slightly improved the explained variance, but it was less stable than the multiple regression model combining maximum wind speed and translation speed. The translation speed suggested an inland expansion of the strong-wind area associated with wind-speed asymmetry, while considering the exposure led to similar conclusions. Our regression model can be applied to estimate changes in the damage and uncertainty by adjusting the typhoon characteristics under multiple climate-change scenarios.