Previsico, the live flood warning InsurTech, and Zurich Municipal have partnered to boost flood risk resilience across the UK public sector.
Previsico’s solution used a combination of rainfall nowcasts and forecasts to provide updated warnings. The companies said this is a “game changer” for the public sectors, particularly local authorities who are responsible for flood response plans locally.
Zurich will fund the service.
The partnership comes as flood risk in the UK is on the rise. The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Technical Report, highlighted this. The report states that unless further action is taken, under a scenario in which the planet warms by two degrees Celsius by 2100, annual damages from flooding for non-residential properties across the UK will increase by 27% by 205.
According to the two companies, surface water flooding makes up almost 60% of UK flood risk, with Environment Agency warnings only covering the other 40% for major rivers and the sea.
Previsico’s system will offer 48 hour forecasts every three hours at specific district level. As soon as the system identifies a location is at risk of surface water flooding, a warning is sent to a relevant contact. This means that resilience measures can be put in place and valuable assets such as property can be protected, or art and vehicles moved.
Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Previsico, said, “This extension to our partnership follows the success of our work with Zurich in the private sector with firms such as BT. It will enable Zurich to provide warnings down to individual property level (25m) up to 48-hours in advance for insured properties, a first for the public sector, as well as giving local government support with warnings for roads and parks. It also delivers against Zurich’s ESG strategy.”
Previsico recently partnered with Watertight International to support insurers’ risk engineering teams who undertake flood risk analysis to advise clients to use flood warnings and implement flood resilience measures.
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