SIRC diary: Stormy weather
November 1 2024 by Marcus Alcock
Well, the first thing to note on arrival in Singapore this year for the 20th annual Singapore International Reinsurance Conference at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre was the rather less than cheery weather. I didn’t travel some 7000 miles expecting to be greeted by the same grey skies and heavy rain I had left back in London! And the forecast is pretty much the same for the rest of the week, according to my app.
Actually, it would be insensitive to comment on what after all is no more than a minor inconvenience in a week in which Valencia in Spain has suffered appalling damage and loss of life from severe floods, with the death toll put at more than 200 as flash floods caused the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent history.
Of course, Asia Pacific needs no reminding of how serious the threat from flooding is, with floods and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi in September ravaging Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, while Singapore itself issued a flood alert as recently as 14 October as the inter-monsoon period brought about perilous climatic conditions. While in April this year, extensive flooding also impacted several regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. And this list is far from extensive.
Flooding, of course, is nothing new, but even to the most casual observer, it would now appear unarguable that the severity and intensity of flood losses is a serious problem, not only for (re)insurers but also of course for the wider society. The devastation caused by severe flooding can destroy communities and take years to recover from.
I write this from Singapore, which is no stranger to floods, but is an interesting case study. During the 1950s-80s the island experienced frequent and widespread flooding. Some of these floods had water levels that reached 1m in height and some floods lasted days.
However, this island nation is in many ways a model for others to follow. In recent decades, Singapore has made significant strides in flood risk management. According to the national water agency PUB, flood-prone areas in Singapore have reduced from 3,200 hectares (ha) in the 1970s to less than 30 ha in 2023. This is due in no small part to decades of continued efforts and significant investments to expand the drainage network and infrastructure to mitigate flood risk. Reinsurers, insurers and risk managers- take note!
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