Insured losses in Germany from flooding last month could approach €5 billion ($8.01 billion), catastrophe modeller AIR Worldwide estimates.

The restoration of infrastructure such as water and gas pipes, power lines, and roads could take weeks or even months, it says, which could lead to loss inflation effects.

The estimate includes losses to residential, commercial, industrial, auto and agriculture property structures and their contents, from both on- and off-floodplain flooding.

The figure matches an initial preliminary estimate made last week by the German Insurance Association (GDV) in covering the North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, though that excluded Germany’s border region between the German states of Bavaria, Thuringia, and Saxony which was also hit by localised flooding.

Low pressure system “Bernd” brought significant flooding in much of Europe from July 13-18 and GDV expects this year to be the most damaging for Germany since 2002, when insured storm damage was €10.9 billion ($17.46 billion). June rains and hail had already caused an estimated insured loss of €1.7 billion ($2.72 billion).

Last month’s rain impacted German rivers, with gauge readings at the tributaries of the Mosel and Rhine rivers reaching historically high levels. Ahr valley homes were flooded and bridges were broken. In the village of Schuld most buildings were destroyed.

AIR Worldwide says the vast majority of losses within Germany came from the catchments of the Rhine and Danube basins, and the loss estimate is limited to these two river basins.

River flow data from more than 900 gauging stations in the Rhine and Danube river basins within Germany, obtained from country’s provincial and federal agencies, was used in the modelling.

AIR says many reinsurance contracts are subject to an hours clause, typically 504 hours for flood events, and given the duration of the July rain, it expects the flood to be treated as a single occurrence in Germany.

The mountainous areas in the border region between the southeasternmost region of Germany and the Austrian states of Salzburg and Tirol were also hard hit, affecting Hallein, Kufstein, and various communities in the region of Berchtesgaden.

Other countries and regions that also experienced flooding include Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands’ southernmost province Limburg. Those regions are not included in AIR’s loss estimate.