ICEYE has announced the launch of its Flood Insights and Flood Early Warning products for Canada.

Flood Early Warning data is available 96 hours before each potential flood, showing the areas most likely to experience flooding. During each flood, data on the total extent of the flood water is provided every 24 hours. The complete extent and depth of the flood at the property level is available every 24 hours after the flood peaks.

Stephen Lathrope, SVP, solutions at ICEYE, said: “Residential insurance coverage for overland flooding has only been available in Canada since 2015, while information on the flood risk is not widely available to the consumer market. This has contributed to lower-than-desired insurance uptake and resulted in high concentrations of risk and ultimately higher costs to policyholders. By providing access to more comprehensive flood loss data, ICEYE aims to support the ongoing development of the flood insurance market in Canada.”

Floods cause the most damage of any peril in Canada, generating an average annual loss of CAD2.9bn. Exposure levels across the country are expected to rise as the effects of climate change result in more frequent and severe events and an increase in the geography exposed to flooding.

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