Global storm surge zones

When tropical cyclones hit flat coastal areas, storm surges – abnormal rises of water generated by a storm – can cause widespread destruction.

“From volcanoes to storm surges, Swiss Re stretches the boundaries of the industry’s risk knowledge every day.”

Martin Bertogg

Head Cat Perils, Swiss Re

Mapping the risk

Our Global Storm Surge Zones help our clients pinpoint their storm surge risk for the first time in a quantitative way, thanks to high-resolution global data for flood frequency. Below, a map with probabilistically assessed return periods from Swiss Re’s proprietary CatNet platform, one of the ways we share our know-how with our clients.

What do we know

230 million people – roughly 3% of the world’s population – are exposed to storm surge risk.
Storm surges cause, on average, more than USD 10 billion of losses per year, of which the majority remains uninsured today.
Our storm surge hazard zones enable our clients to expand their insurance offerings on coastal areas, by significantly increasing risk assessment certainty.

Swiss Re Global Storm Surge Zones in Wenzhou, China