With natural disasters taking an increasing toll, innovative strategies to stem future losses are needed now more than ever. Incentivizing resilience should be the next priority. Even though there are long-term benefits from investing in hazard mitigation — a key element of resilience — individuals and businesses might not choose resiliency over… more

U.S. disaster losses from floods, wind, earthquakes, and fires average $100 billion per year. In 2017, losses exceeded $300 billion—25% of the $1.3 trillion building value put in place that year. Fortunately, there are affordable and highly cost-effective strategies that policymakers, building owners, risk managers, and others can deploy to… more

Why does synergy matter in disaster recovery, and who needs to be involved? A panel recently addressed this, during a meeting organized by the International Code Council for a conference of the Texas General Land Office in Austin, Texas. The discussion focused on (1) building-code development (including applied research to quantify the value of… more

When it comes to protecting your home against flood, Mitigation Saves homeowners time and money. This was the crux of a recent panel presentation that I participated in, during the Strengthening Coastal Counties Resilience Workshop in South Padre Island, Texas. The workshop was arranged by the National Association of Counties (NACo), with funding… more

The International Code Council recently held its 2019 annual conference in Las Vegas. As part of ICC’s government relations forum during a panel called Up-to-Date Building Codes Provide Significant Mitigation Savings, I discussed aspects of the Multihazard Mitigation Council’s study Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves. The panel also included Jeff… more