1800 cases paid out

After the flood: great trepidation about the remaining harvest

Reinhard Zeilinger's sunflower harvest from Rudmanns near Zwettl was largely destroyed.

(Bild: Molnar Attila/Attila Molnar)

Niederösterreichische Versicherung (NV) will probably have to pay out the largest claims sum in its history. Although flood damage is normally capped at just 10,000 euros, the company is preparing for a total loss of up to 100 million euros. Meanwhile, people are worried about the crops that have not yet been harvested.

Only when the floods have receded and the fields are passable will it be possible to assess the extent of the storm disaster for agriculture more accurately. Reinhard Zeilinger from Rudmanns near Zwettl already has certainty in his sunflower fields, as most of them were destroyed. "First the water softened the soil, then the wind blew the plants over," explains the 43-year-old, who sells the seeds from his farm.

Millions of euros in damage to the fields
The majority of the harvest has already been harvested, but crops such as sunflowers, oil pumpkins, soybeans, potatoes, sugar beet, maize and grassland will be severely affected in some cases, according to the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture and the hail insurance company, which insures the crop failures as well as the protective equipment for the crops. Kurt Weinberger, Chairman of the Board of Hagelversicherung, estimates total losses of ten million euros - seven million euros in Lower Austria alone.

Highest payments in company history
Niederösterreichische Versicherung (NV) has already paid out ten million euros. With more than a quarter of all insured agricultural, private and municipal buildings, it is the market leader in Lower Austria. General Director Stefan Jauk emphasizes that rapid assistance is doubly important - with a total loss of probably 70 to 100 million euros, this would be the highest in the company's history.

This is probably the biggest loss in the history of NV. We have already paid out ten million euros, what counts now is rapid assistance!

Stefan Jauk, Generaldirektor der Niederösterreichischen Versicherung

Bild: www.charakter.photos | Philipp Monihart

"1,800 claims have already been settled," explains Jauk, adding that flood damage is usually only covered with 5,000 euros for buildings and 5,000 euros for inventory. The risk has been spread so widely through reinsurance that the natural disaster does not pose an economic threat to NV.

Relief for disaster victims
According to Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig, it is not yet possible to estimate the total damage, but the harvest in the affected areas will clearly be delayed. The ministry is working on easing obligations and deadlines.