The recent heavy rains in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg are expected to cost insurers around €2 billion ($2.2 billion), the German Insurance Association (GDV) said on Friday, in an initial estimate
The current floods in southern Germany were the third and largest in just a few months. In addition to the Danube, many of its tributaries also burst their banks. One week after the heavy rains started, more rain is in sight, though not as much as before.
"Because the floods on the Danube in particular have not yet subsided, this estimate is still subject to a certain degree of uncertainty," said Jörg Asmussen, GDV managing director.
But June's expected flood damage is less than the just under €9 billion seen in July 2021 and lower than the €2.65 billion seen in June of 2013.
The GDV estimates are only of insured losses. The total damage is far higher because many people are not insured against floods. According to calculations by reinsurer Munich Re, the total damage caused by the July 2021 flood was €33 billion, almost four times the insured amount.
In addition to private individuals, infrastructure, farms and businesses are also affected by the damage.
Baden-Württemberg's Agriculture Minister Peter Hauk said more than 95,000 hectares of farmland in the south-western state have been damaged by the heavy rainfall so far. This corresponds to the size of more than 133,000 football pitches. Around 26,000 hectares of arable land and more than 22,000 hectares of grassland were flooded.
In Bavaria, the floods destroyed "large parts of this year's harvest," the Bavarian Farmers' Association spokesman Markus Drexler said.
The situation was particularly bad in Swabia and parts of Upper and Lower Bavaria.
"The damage to agricultural crops such as grain, beet, potatoes and corn, but also to speciality crops such as field vegetables, strawberries and raspberries, is on a scale that is currently impossible to quantify," Drexler said. There are farms where the entire crop area has been under water for days, he added.
