ORLANDO, FL -- 12/04/08 --
The Hurricane Science for Safety Leadership
Forum, a gathering of elected officials, insurance industry
representatives, leading environmentalists and experts in disaster
mitigation, climate change, and meteorology, concluded today with Forum
organizers releasing five top priorities believed to be key to making
families safer and America a more disaster resistant nation.
The Hurricane Science for Safety Leadership Forum was sponsored by the
Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Inc. -- FLASH®, the Institute for
Business & Home Safety (IBHS), WeatherPredict Consulting, Inc. and the
RenaissanceRe Risk Sciences Foundation.
"Over the past two days leading scientists, environmentalists, insurance
industry analysts, academics and public policy experts have pinpointed
concrete steps that should be taken to help America become more disaster
resistant," said Craig Tillman, President of WeatherPredict Consulting.
"Our charge as Forum organizers is to now help turn these powerful ideas
into a call for action that leads to real change to better protect families
and lead to a safer America."
The key priorities identified by Forum sponsors include funding more
scientific research, eliminating incentives for risk-enhancing behavior,
re-evaluating land use planning, making strategic environmental restoration
a priority and educating and motivating stakeholders to take action to
protect their homes and businesses against storm damage.
Featured attendees at the Forum included U.S. Representative Bennie
Thompson, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security; Florida
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink; and several members of the Florida
legislature.
The two-day Forum featured a series of panel discussions that examined
climate change, building codes and land use, hurricane modeling, and
mitigation technologies. One panel addressed mainstreaming mitigation
through communication and education and another examined subsidies in the
property insurance market and the economic vulnerabilities associated with
this practice.
The Forum concluded with an Ask the Policy Makers Panel moderated by Barney
Bishop, President and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida. The
panel included Florida Representative Alan Hays, Chair of the My Safe
Florida Home Advisory Council; Florida Representative Bryan Nelson; and
retired Representative Dennis Ross. Discussion topics included the
successes and challenges of the State's mitigation programs to date;
opportunities and risks confronting Florida and coastal states; prospects
and possible alternatives for Florida's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and
Citizens Insurance Company; and other issues.
"As we look at our five top priorities, they begin with our call for
increased public and private sector funding for applied research
specifically focused on identifying effective methods of improving the
resiliency and durability of both existing and new homes and workplaces,"
said Julie Rochman, President of IBHS. "We will also renew the push to
eliminate incentives for dangerous behavior. We need policymakers to reduce
and where possible eliminate incentives that increase risk, especially the
risk to human life and safety, and also risks to property and to the
environment. Instead, the focus should be on efforts promoting personal
investments in a family's physical and financial security."
WeatherPredict's Tillman said the need to re-evaluate land use planning
will require local, state, and national policymakers to make structural and
community resiliency in the face of inevitable natural catastrophes a
primary factor in land use planning and building code enactment and
enforcement. "We call upon policymakers to recognize the vital role -- and
strongly support the preservation and restoration of -- natural
environmental features such as floodplains, wetlands, and coastal barriers
that greatly mitigate on-shore built environment and structural damage from
hurricanes," said Tillman.
Finally, FLASH's CEO and President Leslie Chapman-Henderson underscored the
priority of educating and motivating families and communities to take
actions that mitigate losses. "Through our experience with StormStruck: A
Tale of Two Homes(TM) 4-Dimensional, interactive experience at INNOVENTIONS
at Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort where visitors experience a virtual
storm and then learn how to build a wind-resistant home through fast-paced
play, we learned that combining education with entertainment is the best
way to convey the importance of mitigation. We will continue to heed this
lesson as we move forward educating people on the steps they can take to
become safer."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Video feeds and presentations from the Hurricane Science for
Safety Leadership Forum are available online at
www.hynescommunications.com/hss.
CONTACT:
Eric Cote
(401) 374-8500
