ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the “realised” risk, i.e. on actual losses caused by flood disasters. It presents statistics based on data collected by Munich Re with regard to number of events and losses. The chapter discusses the factors contributing to changes and trends in these quantities, and in particular the consequences in terms of material and monetary losses. It addresses how the risk-relevant factors have changed, and how risk can be reduced by various measures, including insurance. A number of more structural developments can raise flood resistance considerably, such as floating houses, which are a feature in the Netherlands. People’s attitudes towards flood risk are more crucial than technical devices and equipment. Re-insurance companies, due to their worldwide activities, are among the best sources of natural-disaster statistics. The major re-insurers have collected reports of natural hazard losses from all the available sources for many years.
