In our latest episode of Risk REconsidered, we shift to a video format as we mark the 15th anniversary of massive flooding in Thailand that began as a regional disaster but grew to into a global supply-chain crisis. Balz Grollimund, who heads Swiss Re's Catastrophe Perils team, says these historic floods endure as reminder of why insurers and reinsurers must work diligently to manage risks and exposures that can accumulate quickly across their portfolios, producing losses well beyond expectations. Like Grollimund says, the Thai floods – still the costliest floods ever for the insurance industry – continue to provide relevant takeaways that we can apply to strengthen society's ability to prepare for and recover from natural disasters.

In the fourth episode of Risk REconsidered, we explore why flood losses are rising across India, Australia and Asia with insights from Vineet Kumar, Swiss Re's Head of Cat Perils APAC, and Andrew Hall of the Insurance Council of Australia. We examine how smarter modelling, richer data and forward-looking planning can help communities build long-term resilience. Commissioner Tony Grindberg joins us to discuss the Fargo–Moorhead Diversion, a leading US flood-protection project that highlights climate adaptation on a large scale.

In the third episode of Risk REconsidered we take a closer look at the January Los Angeles wildfires from a large loss perspective and discuss what research is being carried out by The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety to help home owners better prepare for natural catastrophes.

We also speak to Professor Nancy Wallace about her first-hand experience with wildfires and what work she is doing to help the future insurability of wildfires in California.

In the second episode of Risk REconsidered, we take a closer look at the 2024 hurricane season, discuss the role of hurricane forecasts for insurers and examine drivers of storm losses. We also speak to an innovative US real estate developer whose community in Florida came through Hurricanes Ian and Milton virtually unscathed, and discuss the a topic on risk managers' minds: how weather-related perils are impacting insurability in disaster prone areas.

In this first episode, we discuss complex hazards that accompany severe convective storms, in particular hail that has emerged as a main culprit behind the bulk of insured losses from natural catastrophes. We also speak with a US professor who helps develop university-level storm chasing courses and who has been an advisor for Hollywood crews seeking to capture fierce weather for their productions.

Swiss Re's new podcast series on climate risk coming soon.