Eqecat Launches Regional Typhoon Model in Asia

California-based catastrophe risk modeling company Eqecat Inc. said it will launch a basin-wide Asia typhoon model this month to evaluate risks and damages caused by typhoons and related weather events.

The model will provide "a holistic view of risk" across the western Pacific basin including Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, where some of the world's most intense tropical cyclones are produced.

Eqecat's Asia typhoon model analyzes the direct effects of wind, storm surge and typhoon rainfall-induced flooding. It also considers variation in local building practices, design and building codes, said Eqecat in a statement. Because individual typhoons have the potential to affect multiple countries, these factors are important to evaluate risks in addition to capturing relevant spatial correlations, said Eqecat.

"We provide the insurance and reinsurance industry with the tools they need to set rational expectations about risk," said Bill Keogh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Eqecat, in a statement.

Eqecat's announcement comes as insurance and reinsurance intermediary Aon Benfield launched a pan-Asia typhoon model to analyze the financial impact of typhoons and to develop reinsurance programs. The Aon Benfield model covers typhoon risk-exposed regions of China, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as the northern Indian Ocean and northwestern Pacific Ocean where tropical cyclones generate (BestWire, July 19, 2010).

(By Iris Lai, Hong Kong bureau manager: [email protected])