Insurance losses from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna flooding jump 30%
Catastrophe insurance data firm PERILS has released its second assessment of industry losses arising from the May 2023 floods in the Emilia-Romagna area of Italy, representing a 30% increase on the estimate from last month.
The second estimate of the insurance market loss is €488 million. This compares to the initial loss estimate of €377 million which was issued by PERILS in July, six weeks after the event end date.
The loss estimate covers the property lines of business and is based on loss data collected from the Italian insurance market.
After a prolonged period of drought conditions, May 2023 saw bouts of heavy and persistent rainfall and localised thunderstorms causing extensive flooding and landslides in northern and central Italy. The worst affected areas were Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region and parts of the neighbouring Marche and Tuscany regions. Some locations recorded half of their annual average rainfall in just 36 hours. The month was Italy’s wettest May since 1951.
17 people lost their lives in the ensuing floods which struck first on 2 to 4 May and then again much more severely on 16 to 18 May. The municipalities of Ravenna, Faenza, Forli and Cesena were particularly badly affected.
The economic costs of the event are officially estimated at close to €9 billion. Only a small part of these costs – currently estimated by PERILS at €488 million – is covered by insurance, owing to low flood insurance penetration for private households and small commercial property. Further, almost 50% of the economic loss stems from damage to public infrastructure.
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