Natural catastrophes around the world resulted in damage to property worth US$210 billion (HK$1.63 trillion) in 2020, with the United States especially hard hit by hurricanes and wildfires.

The tally from German reinsurer Munich Re increased from US$166 billion in 2019 and comes with another warning about climate change brought on by warming.

Losses that were insured rose to US$82 billion from US$57 billion in 2019 and added to the burden of the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the insurance industry hard.

"Climate change will play an increasing role in all of these hazards," said Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek, pointing to hurricanes, wildfires and other storms.

The hurricane season was "hyperactive" with a record 30 storms, surpassing 2005's 28. And heat waves and droughts are fueling wildfires, with a bill for US$16 billion in the US west.

Floods in China were the most costly at US$17 billion, but only 2 percent of the damaged property was insured.

Another natural disaster was developing yesterday, with Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano throwing up hot clouds and hundreds more residents leaving its fertile slopes.

Authorities evacuated more than 500 people from around the mountain in Java's Magelang district after thousands of people had already left their homes and farms because of the dangers of Indonesia's most active volcano.

"Until now the potential danger does not reach more than five kilometers," said Hanik Humaida, chief of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center in Yogyakarta.

The geological authority had raised the alert level over Merapi to the second-highest level in November after sensors picked up increasing activity, and tourism and mining activities were halted.

The 2,968-meter mountain is about 30 km from Yogyakarta city center, and about a quarter of a million people live within 10 km of the volcano.

Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people and caused the evacuation of 20,000 villagers.

Disaster bills are growing heavier on climate change