The cost of natural disasters in France is expected to rise to 10 billion euros in 2022, the president of France Assureurs announced on Thursday, a level not seen since 1999, the year marked by storms Lothar and Martin.
The year 2022 “on the front of climatic events it is truly the annus horribilis”underlined Florence Lustman, questioned on Europe 1, which points “the intensification of phenomena” extreme weather conditions as well as “the increase in their frequency”. She cited hailstorms, storms, floods and “an equally exceptional year on the drought front”.
In detail, hail episodes and storms between May and July cost 6.4 billion euros, the federation told Agence France-Presse. Added to this are the effects of the drought, particularly on individual houses, for an envelope close to 2.5 billion euros.
In France, approximately 54% of single-family homes are located in areas of medium or high exposure to shrinkage-swelling of clay soils (RGA), a phenomenon linked to successive episodes of drought in summer and rewetting of soils in autumn. or in winter which can cause significant damage. Some 3.3 million homes, or about 16% of the total, are even located in high risk areas.
Losses observed on harvests, floods and episodes of forest fires during the summer complete the picture.
The bill will double in 30 years
This amount for 2022 marks a significant increase compared to the period 2017-2021. These climatic phenomena cost an average of 3.5 billion euros per year over the period. The professional federation of insurers is also not very optimistic for the years to come, in particular because of the increasingly visible effects of climate change.
The cumulative bill should exceed 140 billion euros for the next 30 years, double the last 30.