Written by The GrECo Risk Engineering GmbH offers individual analyses for protection concepts against floods & Co. A targeted risk management can protect your business facilities or the appropriate crop insurance can minimize the risk of harvest loss as well as seed and fruit damage.
If you think back to the beginning of the Corona crisis and the time in the home office, you will especially remember the beautiful April with early summer temperatures that made the lockdown and exit restrictions a challenge.
The ZAMG (Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics) speaks of the fourth warmest April since the beginning of measuring history (i.e. since the 18th century) and of one of the driest springs ever. There were almost 20% more hours of sunshine than on average (+ 55% in April) and temperatures were almost 1 °C above average (+ 2.1 °C in April). In the months of March and April there was 45% less precipitation than the long-term average (1981-2010), in Eastern Austria even 71% less. The rain in May could not compensate the extreme dryness of the previous months. Overall, this year there was about 30% less rainfall.
Due to the mild beginning of the year, many plants sprouted up to three weeks earlier. The rain-prone month of May could just about prevent a catastrophic crop failure. Nevertheless, the missing harvests resulted in a lack of grass cuttings, which are urgently needed as fodder for the animal supply. Conclusion: In addition to the corona crisis, the situation for agricultural enterprises has worsened immensely.
The number of extreme events is increasing worldwide
An ongoing project of ZAMG showed that since 2000 a significant increase of weather conditions with bad weather potential of 30% – 50% is visible. This is, among other things, a direct consequence of the increase in the water vapor content of the air caused by the rise in temperature. Due to the increasing warming, the thunderstorm season in Austria is extending towards spring and autumn.
Evidence of the increase in such weather extremes was already evident in June. The long heavy rainfall in Lower Austria led to flooded fields, debris flows, local flash floods, roadblocks, flooded cellars and demanded about 100 storm-operations by the local fire departments. In July, the series of storms continued in the western provinces of Austria such as Salzburg and Tyrol.
The trend towards such extreme events is also evident worldwide. Severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall swept over areas of the USA, while at the same time heat waves were announced in other parts of the country, such as California. China was hit by a catastrophic flood at the end of June, triggered by the heaviest rainfall in 70 years. The rising number of forest fires, as e.g. in Australia and the USA, is also attributed to the consequences of the weather extremes.
Preventive protection concepts against floods & Co.
Unlike weather phenomena such as drought and aridity, hydrological hazards such as floods, debris flows and surface runoff are much more predictable and can be dealt with at a local level. In general, especially in Central Europe, superregional flood protection is taken over by the state. However, if the properties of companies are located in areas that were not designated as flood areas at the time of construction, it is necessary to take your own preventive protection measures.
The GrECo Risk Engineering GmbH (GREG) offers consulting services such as risk identification and analysis, evaluation and risk assessment of threat potentials from natural disasters as well as preventive action planning. In this way, technically efficient and economically feasible solutions are developed together with the companies in order to be prepared in case of floods, for example, and to prevent potential damage and shutdown of operations.
The risk consultants of our GREG team rely on internationally proven protection measures and the state of the art in natural hazard management and flood protection in particular.
Tailor-made insurance solutions covering property damage and business interruption due to natural events round off an effective protection concept.
Crop insurance as a protective shield for farmers
Due to climate change, farmers also face new challenges in their risk management. Beside sustainable farming methods, dry periods and drought can often only be countered with artificial irrigation. Since such a measure is tied to a multitude of factors (infrastructural conditions, available water resources, soil conditions, etc.) and generally requires very high investment costs, GREG offers individual analyses, which at the same time provide a basis for appropriate insurance protection.
A risk-adequate crop insurance contributes to keeping the economic risk of losses and damage low by providing appropriate coverage.
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Günther Kundela
GrECo Risk Engineering
Tel.: +43 5 0404 354