After the floods, a mapper's cup runneth over.

Simon Warsop finds himself being recognized more often in the hallways at work these days. Neighbors, he jokes, are asking for his autograph.

Warsop is head of flood mapping for Norwich Union, which, among other U.K. insurers, is facing extensive claims as a result of the devastating floods that hit the United Kingdom in June and July.

The floods offered Warsop the best chance to test Norwich Union's flood map since the floods that swept through the northern English city of Carlisle in 2005.

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"When we hear about flooding, we clearly spend time looking at how our flood map has performed," Warsop said in a telephone interview. "Our flood map is there to map risk of coastal and fiver flooding."

The verdict in both cases, Warsop said, is that "the map has performed really well when there has been river flooding."

But this is a preliminary finding in relation to the June and July floods, Warsop said. Much work is yet to be done on the breadth and severity of the floods. The idea is to look at a flood in terms of concentric circles, he said. The process can be expected to take about three months.

Norwich Union is concerned about the amount of damage caused by inadequate drains. The insurer has begun consulting with engineers and hydrologists. Norwich Union is also looking at the experience of Glasgow, the Scottish city known for its frequent rain and the heavy pressures on its drainage system.

There is concern in the insurance industry about the conversion of front yards into paved parking spaces. This practice, particularly in London, is dictated by a severe shortage of parking spots. But it can make it more difficult for water to find ground into which to seep.

Of these conversions, Warsop, who is a trained actuary, said, "We don't actively discourage it, but we do model it."

Norwich Union's experts will also debate the severity of an event; for instance, whether such conditions are likely to recur, say, every 75 years or less frequently.

Floods normally pose three kinds of threat: burst river banks, overflowing drains, and runoff. "All three of those were happening at the same time," Warsop said of this summer's floods.

The Norwich Union flood map, which dates to 2000, was supported by an investment of about 5 million [pounds sterling] ($9.89 million). It was an advance from the use of postal codes, which can pinpoint small areas but do not reflect elevation.

Height provides crucial indications of the likely flow of floodwaters, Warsop said.

"At that time, the best we had were Ordnance Survey maps with 10-meter [32.8-foot] contour lines," Warsop said. Within this measure, water can flow and be trapped in unpredictable ways, he said.

There is some sensitivity within the insurance industry, however, over suggestions that an accurate prediction of flood risk would leave owners of flood-prone properties without cover.