A representative of the company, which has monitored the frequency and scope of natural disasters for a quarter century and advises the insurance industry, stated: "Comparing the figures for the 1960s and the past ten years, we have established that the number of great natural catastrophes was three times larger. The cost to the world's economies, after adjusting for inflation, is nine times higher and for the insurance industry three times as much."

In 1998 an estimated 50,000 people died in more than 700 natural disasters around the world—an increase of about 100 catastrophes over 1995, the previous worst year for natural disasters. Windstorms and floods accounted for 85 percent of financial losses. Most of the disasters struck poor and uninsured areas, so insurance-industry losses were only $15 billion. However, that figure was more than three times the industry payouts for 1997.

These worldwide disasters should remind us of Jesus Christ's prophecy of a time of unprecedented worldwide trouble, including widespread catastrophes such as "famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places," before His return (Source: The Times [London]; Matthew 24:6-8, 21-22.)