This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.
As devastating natural disasters continue to wreak havoc on the property insurance industry, loss prevention remains a top priority for insurers and property owners alike. Fortunately, researchers and innovators are constantly coming up with new technologies, gadgets, and tools to help mitigate losses and protect consumers when disasters occur.
As the P&C industry finds itself in a precarious position balancing mounting losses with an ever-changing risk environment, technology will play a key role in the industry’s success, and even survival. Let’s take a look at some of the most unique and useful tech-enabled loss prevention tools on the market for three common natural disasters.
Forest fire
Every year, out-of-control wildfires destroy millions of acres of land, destroying homes and businesses in their path. The long-term economic and environmental impacts of wildfires can be devastating and take decades to recover from.
Because wildfires often occur suddenly and without warning, early detection of these types of disasters is paramount to reducing property damage and saving lives. However, current wildfire prevention solutions, such as manual watchtowers, satellite systems and cameras, are not accurate or up-to-date enough to detect unauthorized burns before they cause significant damage.
1. Early detection wildfire sensor
The latest wildfire damage prevention technology aims to address these shortcomings by providing ultra-early detection of wildfires. Dryad NetworkSilvanet, an environmental IoT startup based in Berlin, Germany, has developed a wireless environmental sensor network that uses solar power and mesh gateways to help detect wildfires early and at low cost. The sensors detect early signs of a wildfire, such as an increase in carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas particles in the air, allowing firefighters to begin fighting the blaze before it spreads.
What’s cool about it?
One of the biggest challenges of traditional wildfire detection sensors is power consumption. In forests where large trees block a lot of the sunlight, using only solar panels to power the sensor is not a good option. We are proud to announce that the technology is beyond our understanding on the STM32WL (if you are interested, Here is the explanation), Dryad developers have found a way to overcome the power consumption challenges and create a system that can operate in forests for up to 15 years.
2. Firefighting robot
Yes, that’s right. Fighting wildfires is a dangerous job, but with the help of robots, humans can fight the fires without putting their own lives at risk. Many of the firefighting robots in use today are machines that are remotely controlled by firefighters. This allows the robots to navigate rugged terrain and enter burning buildings without putting human lives at risk.
But because buildings are designed for humans, many firefighting robots are more like cars than people, but the researchers A more human-like model Assisting firefighters in indoor emergencies: These humanoid robots can perform tasks such as opening doors, going up and down stairs, and operating fire hoses.
What’s cool about it?
Besides the fact that we’re talking about firefighting robots, what else is there to say? At AgentSync, we’re big advocates of using technology to automate manual tasks that take away people’s time and take them away from higher value work. By offloading tasks like moving heavy equipment and evacuating people from disaster areas to robots, firefighters can focus their time and energy on their number one priority: stopping the spread of fires.
This is similar to how our products relieve insurance agents, underwriters and MGAs of manual producer licensing and compliance tasks, allowing their employees to focus on their number one priority: selling and servicing insurance products.
flood
You can’t talk about natural disasters without mentioning floods, which are the most common and costly natural disaster in the United States. The National Weather Service estimates that about 122 million people are at risk of flooding. Flooding is possible just in the spring of 2024. Flooding is expected to occur in the five-year period from 2018 to 2022. Insurance losses amount to approximately $45 billion All over the world.
Although increased and heavier rainfall has made flash flooding a major issue in larger cities and towns, overall risk awareness for all types of flooding remains low. This lack of awareness leads many homeowners and business owners to underestimate the amount of insurance coverage they need.
1. Publicly available, accurate water data
To help the public make more informed decisions about water safety and flood management, the National Weather Service National Water Forecasting Service It is scheduled to be launched on the website in March 2024. Leveraging the latest software, including cloud infrastructure and geospatial technologies, the platform will provide more accurate and easy-to-use water data to improve flood risk analysis and prediction.
What’s cool about it?
While the website may not be as cool as a firefighting robot, public access to real-time flood data could save lives as well. The National Water Forecasting Service website gives users insight into current water conditions anywhere in the United States. Additionally, API TechnologyUsers will be able to access real-time water flow information directly from their devices.
Whether it’s about insurance agent licenses or flood control, Access to the latest data Accurate flood forecast data gives homeowners and business owners enough time to secure property and valuables and evacuate if necessary.
2. Watergate
When you hear the term Watergate, you probably think of illegal political activity, but in this case we’re talking about something a little more blatant. MegaSecu Watergate Waterproofing They are literally “gates” used to stop water from entering a building or area. Made from durable PVC, watergate barriers deploy when water levels rise, preventing flooding.
What’s cool about it?
Traditionally, homeowners and business owners use sandbags to dam the perimeter of their property and prevent flooding. But sandbag barriers require hours of manual effort by multiple people to fill and install, often leak, and become useless after one or two uses. Watergate Barriers have a 20-year lifespan and can be installed by two people in five minutes with no other resources required.
Doing more with less is a common goal of Watergate Systems and Agent Think. We reduced the workload of a producer license from 1.5 full-time employees to just 30 minutes per day. With the help of AgentSync.
earthquake
Not even a day into 2024, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan. Travel 800+ feet along the coastline The cost is about Total insured losses were $6.5 billion. Earthquakes and their aftershocks can damage homes and businesses, destroy infrastructure and bring transportation to a screeching halt. Approximately $15 billion in damages annually In the United States alone, damage ranges from broken windows to entire buildings collapsing, but as the recent devastating earthquake in Taiwan shows, resilient infrastructure and loss prevention are key.
1. Earthquake shielding protection for critical infrastructure
Earthquake reinforcement of important infrastructureor SCPCI, involves digging a series of sloping holes in the ground around the structure that needs to be protected, making the structure essentially “invisible” to shock waves, similar to how a muffler attenuates sound waves.
The boreholes are between one foot and one meter in diameter and about 150 meters deep. Once drilled, they turn the surrounding ground into a medium to reflect and deflect dangerous seismic waves away from surrounding structures. The technology is still in the early stages of development, but it has the potential to protect billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure and save thousands of lives.
What’s cool about it?
In fact, SCPCI has reduced the seismic energy of a magnitude 7 earthquake to that of a magnitude 5 earthquake, potentially reducing the damage from an earthquake from catastrophic structural, environmental and economic damage to a few broken plates. What’s even more impressive is that this type of infrastructure can protect large areas, from a single building to an entire city.
2. Backpack Mouse
Earthquakes can cause not only property damage and loss, but also loss of human life. When disasters strike, time is of the essence as rescue teams search for trapped survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Humans are at a huge disadvantage when it comes to finding and rescuing people after an earthquake. Primarily, humans are too large to move safely through collapsing rubble. Researchers at the nonprofit organization say: Apopo There’s a better solution: a rat. More specifically, a rat wearing a little backpack equipped with a camera, a two-way microphone, and a GPS signal.
What’s cool about it?
In a nutshell: a rat with a backpack. That aside, it’s pretty amazing that developers were able to create technology that’s small enough to fit into a rat backpack and robust enough to transmit and receive frequencies under heavy earthquake debris. Combined with the rat’s own skills, such as an excellent sense of smell, ability to learn, and quick adaptation, this whole concept is a true testament to how human (or rat) skills can be combined with modern technology to increase efficiency and overall success.
Technology plays several key roles in the insurance industry
While the primary goal of this article is simply to highlight some of the most interesting, high-tech natural catastrophe loss prevention tools available today, the larger takeaway is in the role that technology plays in the insurance industry. Whether at a macro level (reducing insured losses from natural catastrophes, positively impacting the overall affordability and availability of P&C insurance) or at a micro level (enabling single producers to work more quickly and efficiently with agents), it’s clear that technology is vital to the future success of the industry.
If hearing stories about firefighting robots and little rodent heroes has you motivated to replace traditional insurance technology with more modern, efficient solutions, AgentSync can help. Watch the demo You can learn more.
