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What’s happening: The Hawaii town of Lahaina is experiencing the worst wildfires in U.S. history, where the death toll as of Aug. 15 has reached 99 people and is expected to climb. The total insured loss is expected to be the second largest in Hawaii’s history, behind Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

• In this Reuters article, Aon estimates that the extreme devastation to homes, businesses and other structures in Lahaina would drive economic and insured losses into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
• According to Aon’s Weekly Catastrophe Report, the significant disruption to tourism in Maui, which is a major part of the local economy, will be realized for the foreseeable future.
• In 2022, insured losses from wildfires in the U.S. dropped below $1 billion for the first time but were above the 10-year average in terms of the numbers of fires and acres burned, reported by Aon’s 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight.
• Read more in Business Insurance, Insurance Day, Barron’s, Sky News and AM Best.

Zoom out: Bloomberg also published insights from Madeline Catzaras, ESG people solutions and solution development lead, EMEA Health at Aon, on how organizations should work with employees during severe weather events.