Flood insurtech Previsico connects with Meteosat satellite
The leading European live flood alert insurtech, Previsico, has announced it is ready to connect to the new US$4.5bn Meteosat third-generation satellite system.
The move will provide revolutionary, rapid detection and ‘nowcasting’ of severe weather events, enabling Previsico to deliver increasingly accurate and timely flood warnings to insurers and property owners with more time to mitigate flood impacts.
Flood insurtech and satellite hook-up imminent
This first satellite of the new system, launched on December 13th, 2022 - and will help meteorologists meet one of their main challenges – the rapid detection and forecasting of severe weather events – so that more timely and accurate warnings can be given.
Data shows the system will consist of three satellites in geostationary orbit, 36,000km above the African equator. They will provide images of Europe every 2.5 minutes, including the first observations of lightning from space.
Previsico leading in satellite flood alert technology
Previsico already provides real-time, property-level surface water flood forecasts to mitigate flood impacts globally, including live actionable flood nowcast and forecast warnings.
The insurtech was also voted into the ‘Hot 100’ global InsurTechs by Intelligent InsurTech and won the prestigious ‘Innovation of the Year' award at the British Data Awards 2021, against strong competition in all sectors, including FTSE 100 firms, tech unicorns, public sector bodies, and not-for-profit organisations
New satellite technologies driving flood alert insurtech services
According to reports, The Royal Meteorological Society has outlined how the UK is undergoing disruptive climate change, which is driving an expected five-fold increase in the frequency and magnitude of flash floods by the 2080s. This means flood losses are expected to increase tenfold to $1trn by 2050, according to the WRI, making it increasingly challenging for insurers to provide affordable cover.
Previsico’s forecasts are given up to 48 hours in advance and continuously updated with new weather data. However, the insurtech faces new challenges with existing weather forecasting technologies because every storm is different, with hourly changes in weather patterns making them difficult to predict. The new Meteosat Third Generation system will provide 50 times more data than existing Meteosat satellites, once fully operational, greatly increasing the accuracy of future nowcasts.
The cost of flood damage and insurance protection
Speaking about Previsico’s latest move, Jonathan Jackson, CEO of Previsico, explained: “The cost of flooding to the global economy is significant, well-known, and forecast to increase greatly in the future due to increasingly volatile weather caused by global warming. Yet many of these flood impacts are entirely avoidable with the right technology in place. The data from Meteosat will enable Previsico to take our already world-leading service to the next level.”
Jackson added that Previsico’s live flood forecasting solution brings together the latest weather data from the Met Office, IoT devices on the ground, and its advanced flood modelling capabilities address the increasing global issue of surface water flooding for insurers such as Zurich, Liberty, and Generali, the public sector, and major corporate clients and SMEs.
