PROVIDENCE – The Atlantic hurricane season just ended, but the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies is urging government policymakers to stay focused on the issue of disaster mitigation.
NAMIC said there was significant progress in that arena this year. That included “groundbreaking” federal legislation signed into law that creates a first-of-its-kind incentive for states and communities to adopt stronger construction standards and mitigation policies.
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Another policy – part of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act approved by President Donald Trump in October – will provide new tools to communities nationwide to proactively prepare for the risk of floods, wildfires, severe wind, earthquakes and other catastrophic events, according to the association.
Currently, Congress is facing another deadline for reauthorizing the troubled National Flood Insurance Program, which remains billions of dollars in debt. Reform efforts have stalled on Capitol Hill, according to the association, leaving the program subject to a series of short-term extensions to avoid an outright collapse.
“As the new Congress and state legislatures get ready for work in January, now is the time to focus on mitigation and preparing for natural disasters,” said Jimi Grande, the association’s senior vice president of government affairs. “The federal government has taken major steps to help protect our communities from natural disasters, and now we need our state and local governments to take action.”
Meanwhile, a new white paper from Johnston-based FM Global, among the world’s largest commercial and industrial property insurers, found risk and damage to property from tornadoes continues to rise in the United States, as concern intensifies around climate change’s effect on severe weather.
The company said the climate’s influence on twisters has been especially elusive to scientists, as is data around how tornadoes rip apart buildings. Those are among the hot topics some of the world’s leading climate scientists explore in the white paper, FM Global said.
There are about 1,000 tornadoes in the U.S. each year. In 2011, the company added, insurance industry losses related to twisters exceeded $14 billion.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
