## 5 Discussion
### Economic Impacts  
The economic losses quantified in this paper amount to almost \(\ell\)4000 M during the period analysed. These figures are underestimated for two reasons: (a) there is no reliable information available on the economic impacts of 36 events (almost 38% of the total), and (b) they represent direct costs, mostly for housing and infrastructure repairs, without any analysis of the indirect costs: interruption of commercial activity and tourism, closure of restaurants, hotels and services, loss of profits, etc. Again, Cyclone Xynthia on the Atlantic coast of France (2010) represents the event with the highest recorded economic losses, amounting to 63000 M. Leaving out the economic consequences of Xynthia, the rest of the recorded economic losses are primarily concentrated on the Mediterranean coast (\(\ell\)907.2 M). In general, results of this study seem to agree with recent studies that report that damage caused by heavy rainfall events and storm surges have increased in Europe during the last decades [6; 7; 8; 9]. This is not only related to the effects of climate change, but also to the increased exposure of people, properties and infrastructures to such extreme processes along the coastal fringe. Additionally, the temporal and spatial distribution of events shown here go along with previous research on the increased climatic severity of winters on the European Atlantic coast [4]. This new storm pattern would have important socio-economic repercussions and physical changes in the Atlantic coastal environment. Xynthia (February 2010) is a clear example of this [30]; there are no known coastal flooding events in France with more casualties than Xynthia [27]. On the other hand, a relevant increase in the intensity of storm surges is observed on the Spanish Mediterranean coast [5]; the recent and unusual Storm Gloria (January 2020) was responsible for considerable damage on the Spanish coasts, which requires consideration to manage the risks related to these new scenarios. This work also shows a greater exposure of the Mediterranean coast of Southwest Europe compared to the Atlantic coast. The Mediterranean coast offers a model of exponential tourist growth, with an enormous urban and infrastructure development during the last decades, which clearly determines a greater vulnerability. Additionally, the Mediterranean coast is less accustomed to dealing with marine storms, not only because of their lower frequency and virulence compared to the Atlantic coast, but also because of a cultural bias of historical traditions. Most of the settlements in the Spanish and French Mediterranean were built far from the coastline to avoid invasions. [PERSON] et al., (2022) also highlight the greater vulnerability of the Spanish Mediterranean coast to the impacts of climate change. They highlight the vulnerability of small enclaves of ports and marinas that have proliferated enormously along the Mediterranean coast, and which can be severely affected by small changes in significant wave height, slight rises in sea level, etc. This work has some limitations and weaknesses. Regarding trends observed in the number of extreme meteorological events and socio-economic impacts, the period analysed (11 years and two months) is too short to confirm them. On the other hand, Xynthia (year 2010) has such weight that it makes this type of analysis difficult. Additionally, there are two further limitations: (1) the impossibility of quantifying indirect economic losses, which can multiply the official figures, and (2) the fact that this is a simple analysis conducted by collecting social and economic impacts from official sources. We have identified many information gaps that we have tried to fill with media data. In the case of Portugal, data on economic losses are only available for 3 events, leaving the remaining 14 unquantified. In general, damages are certainly underestimated in the present work.