This paper addresses uncertainties pertaining to damage assessments made for the floodings of the Meuse River in 1993 and 1995. The analysis is based on flood damage data that were collected by damage experts and consist of large sample sizes within each municipality. The most interesting aspect of these two floods is that although the volume of flooding and the inundated area were comparable in order of magnitude, the flood damage estimates in 1995 were 35% lower than in 1993. We conclude that part of the reduction in flood damage during the 1995 flood was due to a reduction in the damage to household goods. This may be explained by a marginal increase in flood warning time and experiences gained from the flood of 1993. As flood damage assessments are the cornerstone in the evaluation of flood damage mitigation schemes, empirical data of previous floods should be used to improve the foundations of the methods to assess flood damages. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union