The German government has evaluated the damage from floods that hit some of the country’s regions in July at the record-high figure of 29.2 billion euro (about $33.8 billion at the current exchange rate), Trend reports citing TASS.
The figure was mentioned in an application for financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund, filed by the German authorities. Therefore, the damage from this year’s floods exceeds losses from similar disasters in 2002 and 2013.
The German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, primarily its areas in the Ahr river valley, accounts for more than half of that sum. North Rhine-Westphalia accounts for more than 40%. The rest of those damages were registered in other regions, such as Bavaria and Saxony.
Heavy rains that began on July 12 caused devastating floods in Germany’s western and southwestern regions. The overall death toll exceeds 180, over 750 people were injured. Later, floods were also reported in Germany’s eastern and southeastern regions, namely Bavaria and Saxony.