Using aerial data in catastrophe response

As we enter the last month of the 2018 hurricane season, it’s safe to say the U.S. has seen its fair share of natural disasters. Hurricane Florence’s damage costs are estimated to exceed $50 billion, and, most recently, Hurricane Michael was recorded as the third most intense continental U.S. landfall on record as a Category 4 hurricane.

As the extent of catastrophe damage continues to grow exponentially, insurers are turning to technology to help them better evaluate, understand and respond to natural disasters. One such technology solution at the heart of today’s disaster response efforts is aerial data.

Look to the sky

Imagery from drones, manned aircraft and satellites is becoming increasingly valuable to claims adjusters as they face hazardous and often unknown conditions during the claims process. In fact, Novarica estimated that nearly 20% of P&C carriers are pursuing aerial imaging solutions.

Why the focus on imaging solutions? Satellites can gather important data both before and after disasters occur to help insurers compare and triage total loss damage. Radar satellites can see through clouds and monitor flooding as it happens. Likewise, manned aircraft and drones can be deployed to provide more detailed images of areas that require deeper analysis.

This data not only helps insurers prepare for disaster recovery, but also helps protect claims adjusters on the ground. By knowing the extent of the damage before sending adjusters on-site, insurers can avoid hazardous conditions, inaccessible areas and dangerous building infrastructure.

Analyze the situation on the ground

Aerial data solutions can also bring advanced analytical capabilities to claims processes, allowing insurers to easily assess the extent of flood waters, utilize damage heat maps, and match their intersection with policies in effect.

When relying on machine learning algorithms to drive analytics, insurers can easily determine and classify damage, allowing them to send adjusters to the hardest hit areas first. It also allows them to handle obvious total loss claims in a way that saves money and improves customer service.

In fact, imagery and analytics are often detailed enough that adjusters can fully process claims without even putting boots on the ground. After Hurricane Michael, some adjusters were able to use aerial data and analytics to process claims before customers even knew their homes had been destroyed.

Aerial in action

In the midst of Hurricane Michael recovery efforts, one aerial data solution provider was able to use imagery to expedite claims response processes and mitigate adjuster risks. The company was able to gather over 4,800 square kilometers of high-resolution satellite imagery of the entire impacted Florida coastline. Utilizing archived satellite and manned data, the company provided customers with imagery of the whole area, showing current and pre-event baselines, along with the analysis required to make necessary assessments.

Even going beyond aerial data, insurers can bring in their policy data, third-party property attribute information, local parcel information and more to fuse with the imagery and analytics to get holistic views of an event or get down to the micro-level and make specific determinations on key properties.

Jesse Kallman is an expert in the drone and software industry with over 13 years of related experience. He is president of Atlanta-based, Airbus-backed company, Airbus Aerial. Contact him at jesse@airbusaeral.com.