The rains are passing. The sun is now shining in most of Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. However, rivers continue to swell and the water masses are moving downstream. At the same time, clean-up has started in some places after one of the worst floods in recent years.
While claims hotlines have been buzzing without standstill during the last days, hundreds of Allianz claims regulators are now entering the affected area, contacting private clients and businesses and helping them to get back to life as quickly as possible.
"Natural catastrophes like these are always very personal tragedies, and our hearts go out to those affected. We are making sure that we have professional claims experts out in the flooded regions, who can quickly help the individuals, families and businesses get back to normal," says Clement Booth, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE. "We cannot say it often enough, helping people in tough times like these is what we insurers are there for."
Situation still developing in some areas
While some are already calculating the extent of damages, Allianz is not yet making guesstimates. "It will take some time before the full extent of damage is known," Booth continues.
Seeing people fighting water masses in Saxony, the Austrian Wachau valley or Prague brings back images from the last major floods in 2002.
"Many people are making parallels to 2002. However, we are not seeing the same extent of damages yet,” explains Booth. “That is partly because no two circumstances are ever the same, when it comes to extreme weather. Also, a lot was done after the floods eleven years ago. For example, in Prague this time around the metro was shut off in time, the zoo was evacuated and anti-flood barriers are keeping the historic city center as safe as possible.”
Unfortunately, the situation will still not be clear for a few days. In many areas, peak river levels are expected. Weather reports are also unclear about the developments during the next days as there may be some more rain on the weekend.
