Better flood controls needed: Munich Re
As flood losses dominate natural catastrophe statistics for the first half-year 2013, the world’s biggest reinsurer has called on politicians to invest in better prevention measures in flood-prone areas and to plan better for such events.
Floods caused billions of dollars in industry losses for the first half-year 2013, with some 47 percent of the overall losses and 45 percent of the insured losses derived from inland flooding that occurred in Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia.
Although, at around $45 billion, losses from natural catastrophes were below the average for the past ten years ($85billion), flood losses represented a disproportionate percent of this total.
By far the most expensive natural catastrophe in the first half of the year was the flooding in southern and eastern Germany and neighbouring states in May and June, which gave rise to an overall loss of more than €12billion ($16billion) and an insured loss in the region of €3billion plus.
It is clear that flooding is becoming a greater problem in some areas of the world and it is time action was taken in some of these areas, says Munich Re.
“The frequency of flood events in Germany and central Europe has increased by a factor of two since 1980. But particularly with floods, an increased hazard – such as more frequent heavy rainfall events – need not necessarily result in higher losses. Such a rise in losses can be prevented by better flood control,” said Munich Re board member Torsten Jeworrek.
“It is therefore important to sharpen risk awareness. Rivers need room so that flood waves can disperse without causing serious damage. And the flood risk needs to be considered in the designation of land for industrial or residential areas. Politicians should not only set up emergency funds after catastrophes but should act with greater foresight, engaging in prudent supraregional flood control, which should ideally be coordinated across national borders.”
It notes that some cities such as Bratislava and Budapest coped well directly because of their flood control measures.
Munich Re also commented on the potential causes of these greater flood losses. It said weather patterns do appear to be changing but that it was not possible to say climate change was necessarily the cause of this.
Specifically, it said the flooding in Germany and the neighbouring countries was caused by an atmospheric trough across central Europe, drawing moist air from the Mediterranean and southeast European area northwards over eastern Europe. In some places, 400 litres of rain per square metre fell within a few days.
“It is evident that days with weather conditions that lead to such flooding are becoming more frequent and that such weather systems tend to remain stationary for longer,” said Professor Peter Höppe, head of Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research unit.
“With this higher persistence of weather patterns, the potential for heavy and long-lasting precipitation within a trough situation, for example, increases. The counterpart to this are stationary high-pressure systems which in summer increase the risk of heatwaves and periods of drought.
“Debate in climate research is currently focusing on what the causes of such changes in weather patterns could be and what role climate change might play in this. But it is naturally not possible to explain single events on this basis.”
