Floods
Flooding affects more people worldwide than any other form of natural disaster. And yet insurance cover against the risk of flooding is not widespread.
Scarcely any other natural hazard comes in more varied forms than floods. Rivers overflow their banks, city storm drains become overloaded, coastal dikes give way in the face of a storm surge, waves inundate coastal areas following a quake – these are only a few causes of flooding.
By definition, the term “flooding“ is understood to mean the temporary inundation, either partial or complete, of normally dry land with water, suspended matter and/or rubble caused by:
- the overflowing of rivers, streams, channels, lakes, etc.
- precipitation
- storm surge
- tsunami
- waves or seawater
- mudflow, lahar
- failure of water-retaining structures (dams, dikes)
- groundwater seepage
- water backup in sewer systems
