The waters of the Danube have now swelled outward to the point that they are headed for Serbia.
The latest predictions have suggested that the damage that has occurred due to the rising floodwaters in Germany are likely to bring about flood insurance claims that will reach €3 billion (approximately $4 billion).
This, according to a credit rating agency’s forecasts regarding the claims made from the water damage.
Though the Elbe river’s levels appear to be stabilizing in the north of Germany, further to the south, the flood insurance issues continue onward as the Danube – the second longest river in Europe – has reached its peak and is now moving away from Budapest, Hungary, and is headed toward Serbia.
This will mean that the flood insurance claims will only continue to expand beyond Germany.
The overflowed banks of the Elbe, Danube, and other rivers have been causing extensive damage throughout Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia due to seemingly never ending rains in that part of Europe. According to the predictions of Fitch Rating, the total cost to flood insurance companies in Germany alone are likely to fall in the range of €2.5 billion and €3 billion when all is said and done.
This is well below the level of the cost of the actual damage caused by the floodwaters in the country, which Fitch Ratings has forecasted to be around €12 billion. It explained that the reason for the difference is that many of the residents of areas that are at an increased risk of flooding have not been able to obtain flood insurance at a price that they can afford.
There has yet to be a calculation produced that indicates how much damage has been caused by the flooding and how high the flood insurance claims have reached so far in Germany and the other affected countries. A meeting was held, yesterday, to discuss the matter of the flooding and its aftermath and was attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the governors of the sixteen different states in Germany. According to the Interior Ministry, authorities in Germany have ordered over 1.6 million unfilled sandbags from other countries in Europe in order to help to keep up with the country’s requirements.
