Fathom Launches Global Flood Modelling Tool

The latest from Fathom who have some timely news, given the frequency of storm events during Autumn around the world;

Fathom, a leading flood risk intelligence firm, has launched its state-of-the-art catastrophe model, Global Flood Cat. Calibrated and tested by world-class partners, this model is the most complete and customizable flood-related financial loss tool available on the market, offering an unparalleled approach to understand, quantify and manage flood risk across all perils; rainfall, river and coastal.

With large-scale flooding driving USD $14 bn of insured natural catastrophe losses in 2023, Global Flood Cat represents the next step in risk management for those looking to evaluate the financial risk of this not-so-’secondary’ peril. From enhancing insurers’ view of risk by ‘filling flood gaps’ and providing an alternative view of risk, to enabling greater accumulation management, planning and premium setting, Fathom’s new model is a key resource for those looking to make informed decisions.

Unmatched customization

Whether assessing residential, commercial or industrial assets, Global Flood Cat was designed with flexibility in mind to allow users to incorporate their own view of risk directly into the model via options such as user-supplied vulnerability, hazard and vulnerability scaling, and bespoke, location specific flood defense assumptions​.

Backed by science

Global Flood Cat is built upon Fathom’s Global Terrain Data, FABDEM+ and its Global Flood Map, which have each been exposed to scientific scrutiny and validation, and openly published in leading academic journals.

Key features of Fathom’s Global Flood Cat model

1. Comprehensive multi-peril coverage: The first model of its kind to calculate the financial risk for all major flood perils: fluvial (river), pluvial (rainfall) and coastal flooding.
2. Customizable toolkit: Provides a variety of user-specified functions, from adjustable vulnerability and hazard scaling to bespoke first-floor elevation and local defense specification.
3. Advanced uncertainty representation: Offers comprehensive damage uncertainty, including zero and total loss scenarios, with spatial correlation in uncertainty. A granular Monte Carlo loss simulation ensures correct propagation of uncertainty into output metrics, resulting in a more accurate quantification of risk.
4. Best in class components: Built on Fathom’s award-winning product suite, which has been extensively validated and subject to open-source peer review in world-leading journals.
5. Global exposure data: Fathom has produced a global exposure dataset for commercial, industrial and residential buildings, enabling comprehensive model calibration and disaggregation appropriate for the main types of building stock.

A step forwards in risk management

For underwriters, exposure and accumulation managers, capital teams, actuaries, pricing teams and investors, the Global Flood Cat model represents the next step in advanced risk management practices.

For those looking to significantly improve their view of flood risk, Fathom’s Global Flood Cat is fully Oasis-enabled and available on a number of multi-model platforms, including Nasdaq’s Risk Modelling for Catastrophes platform and Moodys’ recently launched Open Modeling Engine.