WOBO acknowledges the information provided to assist membership awareness of current situations relating to water.

A new level of uncertainty, for an industry used to uncertainty.

It’s fair to say that we are living in interesting times. The flood risk landscape has been shifting steadily in recent years but, in the past few months, that shift has started to feel particularly seismic.

In the US, the policy changes, executive orders, plans and proposals emanating from the White House could, if implemented, upend the status quo and reimagine how flooding is managed.

From ‘downsizing’ FEMA’s staff and programs to reducing budgets at NOAA and NASA, the reform agenda targets agencies and initiatives designed to help people adapt to climate risk and respond to and recover from natural disasters.

It will be some time before the full impact of all this will be felt, but while there will likely be negatives, we might also find some positives. The drive to privatize the FEMA-managed National Flood Insurance Program, for instance, could increase competition and innovation in the flood insurance market, potentially improving access and pricing for some policyholders; though affordability and availability may decrease for those in high-risk zones.

There’s another shift that we have seen in the insurance industry that could have a positive ripple effect.

Earlier this month Verisk announced it is acquiring Nasdaq Risk Modelling for Catastrophes (NRMC), an open platform that allows niche vendors to make their hazard models and data accessible to the insurance industry.

This speaks of two trends. First, traditional players are increasingly looking to integrate a more diverse range of climate risk solutions into their offerings. And secondly, there’s a drive for more open-engine platforms, which make it easier to have multiple views of risk.

With everything in flux, it’s impossible to know what impact the changes we are seeing will have in the long term. But whatever happens, we do know that our industry is, and always will be, a moving, evolving thing. And we will be doing our best to keep on top of it.

We’ll be talking in detail about the use of large-scale flood models for statewide flood management. Why not join us?

Understanding statewide flood risk to fast-track resilience – Tuesday May 6, 2025 | 11:00 ET | 08:00 PT

In a rapidly evolving landscape where the future of federal policy, support and funding remains uncertain – and the responsibility for disaster mitigation, response and recovery is increasingly shifting to state governments – what options exist? This webinar will explore an alternative approach to understanding statewide flood risk, one that is quickly gaining adoption across the US.  –  Register now