"Catastrophes striking the United States in the first nine months of 2011 caused $32.6 billion in direct insured losses, nearly double the $18.6 billion in catastrophe-caused direct insured losses insurers generally incur over the first nine months of any given year," said Robert Hartwig, president of the III. And that "figure doesn't even include the significant insured losses which arose after the pre-Halloween snowstorm, which caused enormous damage to multiple states along the Atlantic seaboard."
He estimated that when other events in the fourth quarter are factored in, "direct insured losses could exceed $35 billion this year."