Water as a Risk Factor

In recent years, flooding had increased dramatically around the globe. And the risk situation will continue to worsen significantly in the course of climate change. We must learn to deal with the risk.

Alongside storms, floods are the most common causes of damage due to natural events. Worldwide, around a third of all loss events and a third of economic losses can be attributed to the consequences of flooding, and in recent decades more than half of all people killed by natural disasters died as a result of flooding.

Most of the victims were in developing or emerging countries – think of the devastating surge tides in Bangladesh in 1970 and 1991, with several hundred thousand victims, or of the floods in China that occur almost every year. China also tops the list for economic losses, closely followed by countries in Europe and the USA.

The reasons for the dramatic increase in the consequences of flooding include rapid growth in the world population and increased settlement of exposed areas, but probably also changes that are happening to the climate. Precipitation has increased in its frequency and intensity in many countries of the world, increasingly occurring at unusual times of year.

Precautions against natural disasters are only effective if the state, the economy and everyone affected form a "risk partnership" and adopt a concerted approach to dealing with the problem. As disasters can only occur where people and their assets are situated, it is vital to make proper use of the land, to ensure that construction methods and human behaviour are adapted accordingly. Nevertheless, there will always be a residual risk that can be covered by risk management and disaster control measures. The main thing is to foster a well-developed risk awareness. Frequent and regular occurrences barely cause any problems but rarer floods do.

It would be wrong to believe that future flood disasters could be prevented completely. The Munich Re Foundation is lending its support to raising the awareness of people in risk situations.

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