InsurTech Amplified podcast: Is now the first time we can map flood at scale?

Traditional flood risk assessment is broken. When extreme floods are rare and unpredictable, relying on what happened in the past to predict future risk leaves massive gaps in our understanding. But what if we could map flood risk at a scale never before possible?

In episode 61 of InsurTech Amplified, a podcast dedicated to Insurance and insurtech in Europe and the Americas, Dr Andrew Smith, co-founder and COO of Fathom, breaks down how computational flood modeling has been revolutionized in the past decade. Instead of depending on limited historical data, today’s most advanced models simulate the actual physics of flooding using cutting-edge satellite imagery, superior terrain data and unprecedented computing power.

What makes this moment unique is the ability to model flood risk at extraordinary resolution levels – capturing flood depth and probability relationships worldwide under various climate scenarios. Dr Smith discusses how advanced flood models now operate at a scale never before possible, combining improved satellite imagery, better terrain data and more powerful computing to help organizations make smart, data-driven decisions about risk.

But technical capability means little without proven accuracy. In a market where many claim scientific rigor, Dr Smith emphasizes how Fathom differentiates itself through radical transparency – publishing every method, dataset and model in peer-reviewed scientific journals. As he puts it, “The secret sauce is that there is no secret sauce.” This approach serves a critical purpose: before projecting tomorrow’s flood risks, we must first prove we can accurately characterize today’s risks. This ensures that the models relied upon for critical decisions have been rigorously tested against actual flood events over recent decades.

The applications of accurate, scalable flood modeling extend far beyond traditional insurance use cases. Fathom’s models now serve:

Insurance companies pricing flood risk with unprecedented precision

Governments planning resilient infrastructure investments

Tech firms protecting data centers and facilities

Banks assessing climate-related financial risks

Humanitarian organizations safely siting refugee camps

This diversity of applications illustrates the transformative role that flood risk intelligence plays across industries and sectors.

As Dr. Smith explains, the shift from historical data to physics-based simulation is transforming flood risk assessment across all these diverse applications. Advanced tools exemplify this new approach, enabling organizations from insurance companies to humanitarian groups to make more informed decisions in our rapidly changing world.