New Canadian flood map program seeks to help provide true flood risk for insurers, others

Flood Risk Canada, Inc. (FRC) has launched a new program designed to allow insurers, lenders and property owners to receive accurate and current flood hazard and flood risk data for commercial, residential and mixed-use properties in Canada.

FRC reports the new flood maps in its Flood Hazard Mapping Program (FHMP) will help with determining a property’s actual flood risk and will also allow the identification of higher risk flood areas, such that the location-specific mitigation measures can be prioritized, notes a statement Thursday from the company.

The maps incorporate most current data on water flow, storm tides, rainfall, drainage flooding, snow melting, leave break flooding and climate change, adds the company, a provider of smart flood risk assessment and prevention solutions for commercial property, focusing on true flood risk exposure, uninsured losses and liability.

“Our goal is to provide precise flood risk measurement tool that insurers, lenders and real estate developers, owners, operators, as well as asset and real estate investment management companies can use to reduce the possibility of flood loss and accurately assess the risk of flood of their properties,” Stephen Gill, partner and CEO of Flood Risk Canada, says in the statement.

FRC currently offers its 24/7 Flood Watch Program, which provides access to the existing flood map data from river flooding, coastal flooding, surface water full flooding and even groundwater flooding for both commercial and residential properties, roads, utilities facilities and railway lines.

“Global warming and floods are partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events,” Gill notes in the statement. “Because warmer air can hold more moisture, heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come. At the same time, shifts in snowfall patterns, the onset of spring, and river-ice melting may all exacerbate the risk of flooding,” he continues.