Main factors influencing the economic flood damage of companies

Flood risk analyses, including damage assessments, are gaining more and more attention in flood risk management. To improve the knowledge about flood damage of companies and damage-influencing factors, 415 companies affected by the severe flood event of the River Elbe and its tributaries in August 2002 were questioned. The mean total damage amounted to 1.1 million?, the median to 0.2 million?, i.e. the mean was dominated by a few companies with very high damage. Flood characteristics, mainly the water level, were causing significant differences of the total flood damage. However, the extreme values of very high damage were mainly influenced by company characteristics. Especially large enterprises with high assets suffered from very high flood damage of more than 2 million?.