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Beyond the Headlines: The 2025 Disaster Reshaping Risk

Published April 29, 2026

Authors

Joan Barrett, FSA, MAAA
Ian Genno, FSA, FCIA, CERA
Sam Gutterman, FSA, CERA, MAAA, FCA, FCAS, CPCU, FIA, CLU
Rebecca Owen, FSA, MAAA
Sudha Shenoy, FSA, MAAA
Aadit Sheth, FSA, CERA, FCIA
Peter Sousounis, Ph.D.

 

This is the inaugural annual research project produced by the Society of Actuaries Research Institute Catastrophe and Climate Research Program. The project research committee examined significant weather events and other crises, including cyber incidents and humanitarian emergencies. Many events in 2025 merited serious attention. The committee focused on those events with substantial impacts—financial and otherwise—broad geographic reach, or implications that foreshadow more severe episodes to come.

Overview

Candidates for “Beyond the Headlines: The 2025 Disaster Reshaping Risk:”

  1. California wildfires
  2. Summer flooding in the Central United States
  3. Flooding in Pakistan
  4. Welter of climate events in Europe
  5. Alaska Floods

FAQ

Question: How and why was the Alaska flood selected for this report?

Answer:
The first four events were truly catastrophic and have been extensively examined elsewhere. We selected the Alaska floods because they were largely overlooked, despite representing the latest manifestation of a growing and troubling pattern: low-lying coastal communities facing the combined threats of rising sea levels and more frequent, more severe storms—even in regions outside traditional hurricane zones.

Key Points

The 2025 Alaska floods underscore a critical shift in climate risk that is highly relevant to actuaries: extreme events are no longer confined to familiar geographies, seasons, or hazard categories. Coastal communities, long considered peripheral to major catastrophe models, are increasingly exposed to compound risks driven by warming oceans, rising sea levels, and evolving storm dynamics. From an actuarial perspective, this event illustrates the growing gap between historical experience and emerging risk. Losses in Alaska were amplified not only by physical hazards, but by limited infrastructure, logistical constraints, and the absence of diversification options for affected communities. The Alaska floods also highlight the importance of viewing climate risk through a systemic lens.

Suggested Citation

Barrett, Joan, Genno, Ian, Gutterman, Sam, Owen, Rebecca, Shenoy, Sudha, Sheth, Aadit, and Sousounis, Peter. Beyond the Headlines: The 2025 Disaster Reshaping Risk. Society of Actuaries Research Institute, April 2026. https://www.soa.org/resources/research-reports/2026/2025-disaster-reshaping-risk/

Material

Beyond the Headlines: The 2025 Disaster Reshaping Risk 

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