According to preliminary data, the insured flood damage in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate is estimated at €4-5 billion. This was reported by the German Association of policyholders GDV.

“Currently, we expect insurance losses in the amount of €4-5 billion,” the publication says.

It is emphasized that the damage from Cyclone Bernd is likely to exceed the damage from the flood in August 2002, which was estimated at €4.65 billion.

Earlier, experts expressed the opinion that it may take several years to restore the areas in the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia that were affected by the devastating flood.

The largest flood in the last 20 years has occurred in Western Europe. In addition to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands were also affected.