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European Flood Risk Map

Floods are the most costly natural disaster in Europe. Flood risk is generally highly localized and as a result, difficult to quantify. This map shows the relative flood risk in Europe modeled for five flood types: river flood, flash flood, damburst, storm surge, and tsunami.

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Insurance Aspect

The inset map “Flood Insurance Cover” shows flood insurance availability for residential, industrial, and commercial lines. This map is color-coded to show the various types of policies typically available in each country.

Historical Information

The sites of catastrophic floods in history are also shown on the map. Flood catastrophes indicate the point of greatest impact and are classified into three levels of magnitude based on reported deaths and overall social and economic impact. For some of the most notable historical floods, details are provided of the fatalities at the time of the event and the estimated economic loss from an equivalent flood today.

Risk Thermometer

The average risk to urban areas from all sources of flooding was modeled using a rules-based GIS analysis. The map includes a "Risk Thermometer" that provides a relative measure of the average flood risk to the urban areas shown on the map. The average represents the combined flood risk from all sources of flooding. It is important to note that within each city the flood risk can vary considerably, as is indicated for a variety of locations within London shown along the risk thermometer.

 

Related Information

Catastrophic Risk Map of the United States