Flood damage: buildings in the Ahr Valley after the disaster in summer 2021
Image: dpa
Water, fire and landslides are major real estate hazards. Insurance offers protection, but there are other effects of natural events to consider.
Dhe flood disaster in July 2021 was a devastating reminder of the possible damage caused by natural events. In Germany, with the focus on the Ahr Valley, almost 200 people lost their lives. There was also huge damage to property: houses swept away by the floods, washed away or otherwise damaged, roads destroyed, power lines torn down. The insurer Munich Re put the amount of damage in this country alone at 33 billion euros.
To say that building near the Rhine, Moselle or other rivers, even smaller ones, has always been a little more risky is frivolous. The risks today are much higher than they were a few decades ago, keyword climate change. True, the proportions should not be lost. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) names increasing water shortages as the greatest danger for Europe, followed by storm surges on the coasts and heat waves, especially in the cities. For individual homeowners and renters, however, that is cold consolation when a property floods, a fire rages, or a storm rips tiles from the roofs. The most recent natural hazard report by the German Insurance Association (GDV) puts the damage for 2020, a below-average year, at almost 1.1 billion euros, affecting around 860,000 houses.
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