Two years later, insurers draw a sobering conclusion

2023-07-11 12:18:33

Flood disaster in the Ahr Valley

Less than half of the affected homeowners had elemental protection.

(Photo: dpa)

Frankfurt, Munich Even two years after the great flood disaster in the Ahr Valley, the balance sheet is sobering. Politicians continue to struggle to provide comprehensive private insurance coverage for buildings, too much construction is taking place in flood-prone areas, and homeowners are in many cases no better insured than they were before the disaster.

“One still hears from politicians that the Bernd extreme weather event with its flood levels was a completely unexpected event,” complains Horst Nussbaumer, CEO of the German subsidiary of the insurer Zurich. Historically, that is wrong. Bernd was not a worst-case scenario.

It was the night of July 14th to 15th, 2021, when enormous amounts of water led to the largest and most expensive natural disaster in Germany. In the Ahr valley in particular, flash floods led to massive destruction.

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