Disaster Discussions Podcast: Recent Episodes
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
Disasters like hurricanes, hailstorms, tornadoes, and wildfires can be devastating and frightening. They displace families, drive financial loss, and destroy communities. Join us as we sit down with science, insurance, and building industry professionals who will help us explore the intersection of these hazards with the built environment and steps being taken to prevent future devastation.
With the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season well underway, Dr. Phil Klotzbach, Senior Research Scientist with the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, joins us to explain the importance of seasonal hurricane forecasting.
We begin with a history lesson, including the contributions and legacy of legendary CSU professor William Gray. Additional topics we discuss include: the process of predicting how busy a hurricane season will be, climate change's impact on hurricane predictions, what seasonal forecasting can and cannot do, and misconceptions about Phil's work. He also tells us how seasonal forecasting informs the insurance industry.
This episode explores the cost-effectiveness of resilience with professor, author, and economist Dr. Kevin Simmons. Using data from decades of research, he explains how catastrophic weather events like Hurricane Andrew and the Moore, OK tornado can bring about public policy changes. He also shares details on how mitigation reduces damage, and he shows us the ways in which resilient construction has a positive return on investment.
It’s been an extraordinarily turbulent first half of 2023. A steady string of storms has caused death, destruction, and displacement. In a new segment, “On the Radar,” IBHS experts give their take on recent severe weather and its impact on the built environment. In this episode, IBHS Lead Research Meteorologist Dr. Ian Giammanco and Senior Meteorologist Sarah Dillingham join us with their observations and analysis on why severe convective storms have caused so much havoc this year. They also provide mitigation strategies and share details on how we can build better to prevent avoidable suffering and loss. We wrap up with a look ahead to the 2023 hurricane season and offer tips on how you can be hurricane ready.
Dr. Brown-Giammanco chairs the EF Scale Subcommittee and has spent her career working towards improving this rating system. Hear how she hopes to do this and how its standardization could help better our understanding of the true nature of tornado risk in this country.
How much damage can severe winds inflict? The Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale used for rating tornadoes is one of the most familiar methods we use to answer this question. The only problem, it’s incomplete. Jim Ladue of NIST joined IBHS’s Sarah Dillingham to discuss the committee he chairs under the American Society of Civil Engineers that is working to improve and standardize the EF scale. They outline how various subcommittees are working towards this goal and what the future holds for its applications.
When it comes to the economic impact of severe storms, hail might seem like the little brother to tornadoes and damaging winds, but did you know it’s the greatest loss driver in total cost to insurers? The more we learn about the characteristics of hail, the more we can prevent future losses. IBHS’s Ian Giammanco was joined by Dr. Matthew Kumjian who uses weather radar to detect hail in severe storms. They’ll discuss how this is helping to work towards determining the sizes of hail that may be present and how that relates to damage potential.
Do you know what to do when severe weather is approaching? What information do you need to receive to take protective actions? Dr. Krocak is a Research Scientist focused on answering these questions. IBHS’s Science Producer and Meteorologist, Christina Gropp, joined Dr. Krocak to discuss how people respond to information shared in advance of severe weather events and how it is used to make decisions.
Dr. Ian Giammanco of IBHS and Dr. Julian Brimelow of the Northern Hail Project and Western University have been instrumental in fostering the resurgence of operational field research documenting the characteristics of hail to better inform lab testing. This episode explores how this new data is already helping to improve standardized tests, mitigation efforts, and loss reduction.
Welcome to Disaster Discussions, a podcast from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. This podcast will feature science, insurance and building industry experts who will help us explore the intersection of weather-related hazards with the built environment as well as steps being taken to prevent future devastation.
Our first guest is Dr. Sarah Kapnick, Chief Scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We’ll discuss Dr. Kapnick’s years of experience at the intersection of climate science and economics and outline climate change’s role in the extreme weather events we’ve seen in the last few years. We’ll also delve into how NOAA is helping businesses and communities become more resilient.
IBHS is proud to launch its first podcast highlighting our mission of reducing the damage footprint left behind in the wake of disasters and using our research to support stronger, safer homes & businesses. Listen now & subscribe on your favorite podcast platform!