The recent severe convective storms and flooding that have affected multiple countries in Central Europe since June 6 are expected to result in economic and insured losses amounting to hundreds of millions of EUR, according to Aon’s weekly catastrophe report.

Aon highlighted a multi-hazard event occurring from June 7-9 in eastern Austria, where heavy rainfall triggered flash flooding, causing widespread damage.

In Deutschfeistritz, Styria, 100 mm of rain fell within a few hours, leading to a flash flooding event described as a 1-in-300-year occurrence. This event swept cars away and inundated dozens of homes. On June 8, various parts of Burgenland also experienced localised flash flooding.

The situation prompted a state of emergency in Styria’s Hartberg-Fürstenfeld County. From June 8-9, Styrian fire services responded over 980 times, with around 130 operations in Graz alone.

The region also experienced multiple hailstorms, including incidents of 6-cm (2.4-in) hail between Deutschlandsberg in Styria and Maribor in Slovenia on June 7, and again on June 9 between Vienna and Wiener Neustadt, as well as around Hartberg and Oberwart. During one of these storms, an aircraft en route to Vienna sustained damage from large hail shortly before landing.

Additional hail and wind-related damages were reported across several other countries. On June 9, a tornado in Narda, Hungary, damaged several houses. Eastern Slovenia, particularly around Maribor, also saw significant hail-related damages. Hailstorms affected parts of western and southern Slovakia as well.

The Balkan region also felt the impact, with damaging wind gusts and large hail up to 5 cm (2 in) in diameter reported in Romania. Severe thunderstorms accompanied by intense winds and hailstones as large as 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter caused motor and crop damage in parts of Bulgaria.

Southern Germany, still recovering from recent floods, also experienced hail-related damages on June 8-9.

Aon concludes, “Aggregated economic and insured losses from the thunderstorm activity across multiple European countries are estimated to reach into the hundreds of millions of EUR. A particularly costly episode occurred in Eastern Austria on June 8-9, with hailstorms in Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland and elsewhere incurring additional losses.”

Source - https://www.reinsurancene.ws