In response to demand for detailed maps showing the extent of flooding in December 2014 through January 2015, Guy Carpenter activated its CAT-VIEW℠ event response service to produce flood footprints based on unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV) imagery.
The floods were caused by persistent heavy monsoon rainfall that brought prolonged and persistent cloud cover over the flooded areas. The clouds made any optical satellite coverage unreliable. Thus, Guy Carpenter has relied upon high-resolution aerial video for key areas in Malaysia. This imagery was acquired using UAVs flown beneath the cloud cover and acquired at a time close to the peak flood extent and/or just after the event to show the extent of the flood-related damage.