Disaster Safety Blog

Things to know before you go

Whether you're going on vacation for spring break, travel extensively for business or pleasure, have rental property that is unoccupied, or share time between two homes, there are things you can and should do before closing up your house for any real length of time, according to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.

Adjust Thermostat - One of the easiest things to do, but something easily forgotten, is adjusting the thermostat.

    * In colder climates, don't turn the thermostat off. Instead, lower it to a temperature that's warm enough to keep pipes from freezing but low enough that you are not spending money to heat an empty home. (No lower than 55 degrees.)
    * In warmer climates, high temperatures and humidity can damage furniture or other home contents. In this case, set your air conditioner to 85 degrees.

Protect Plumbing - Both plastic (PVC) and copper pipes can burst. Pipes, water heaters and other appliances can leak, or in freezing weather, pipes can freeze and burst, which can cause major damage in a home left unattended.

    * If you are leaving for an extended period of time, the best protection is to have the water shut off and the water lines drained.
          o Seek the advice of a professional plumber, who can shut off the valve at the water meter and send water outdoors and away from the house or into a basement drain. Once this has been done, the plumber should flush all toilets and drain the showerhead pipe.
          o Shut off the gas to the water heater (or the gas company can do this for you), or turn the temperature control to a "vacation" setting. If your house has a water softener, shut off its supply line.
    * If you choose to leave the water service turned on or will be away only a short while:
          o Make sure all pipes are insulated, especially in a garage or basement next to an outside wall or in crawl spaces and the attic. These exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing.
          o Heat tape can also be used to wrap pipes. Wrap the tape or cables around water pipes, plug in the cord and the heating element will warm the pipes to prevent freezing. Closely follow all manufacturers' installation and operation instructions.
          o Turn off the water supply to individual fixtures like your washing machine, icemaker, toilets and sinks.
            Flooding often occurs when hoses are worn or ruptured, or there is a leak at the connection.
          o Don't leave appliances (dishwasher, washing machine or dryer) running when you leave, and check to make sure toilets aren't running. As an extra precaution, unplug your toaster, coffee maker, microwave oven, computer and television.
          o Make sure the sump pump is working, especially in late winter or early spring when melting snow or heavy rain increases the risk of basement flooding.

Plan for High Wind - If you're going to be away during a season that brings high wind, protect your property:

          o Trim dead limbs from trees and shrubbery and store outdoor furniture and other objects that could become damaging missiles if picked up by high wind.
          o Close and lock all doors, windows, skylights and vents to keep out wind and wind-driven rain.

Make Your House or Business Look Occupied - An empty, unsecured property can be a tempting target for thieves and vandals. 

    * Put interior and exterior lights on timers and/or motion sensors. Set the timers on staggered hours to turn lights on and off at different times.
    * Make sure tapered deadbolt locks all installed and in use on entry doors. The taper makes it almost impossible to use a wrench or other tool to twist the lock open.
    * Suspend mail service and newspaper delivery.
    * Install a monitored security system. (Insurers often provide discounts for devices that make a home safer, so consider the financial benefit.)
    * Inform the local police department that your house will be empty.

Building code update would require stronger enforcement in Memphis

An update to the commercial building code in Memphis, Tenn., which is considered among the cities at highest risk of damage from an earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, is expected to take effect this spring, pending final approval by city and county officials, according to the Commercial Appeal. The newspaper reports "the code will make buildings not just safer, but better, more serviceable."

According to the report, the new rules will require more inspections to ensure the code is being met. The existing code lacks enforcement requirements.

The new seismic codes emphasize creating a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation with the intent of increasing the building's ability to do more than just allow people to escape prior to a collapse, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper also reports along with the code update, there also is now an increased focus on encouraging non-structural mitigation, such as securing bookshelves, hanging fixtures and appliances, to prevent items from falling on people. Falling objects are the major source of damage due to earthquakes in the Midwest, according to the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC). Both of these factors will allow a busienss to re-open quickly with little or no damage after an earthquake.

Structural and non-structural mitigation, along with a push for strong building codes and enforcement in the Midwest, were the focus of an earthquake outreach initiative conducted by IBHS, CUSEC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier this month in five states, including Tennessee.

The newspaper describes the new Tennessee building code classifications in four ways:

Collapse prevention. It's like the crumple zone of a car. The auto may be totaled, but you can walk away from a crash.

Life safety. Better secures nonstructural elements of a building, such as light fixtures and bookcases that could fall on people. The building might still be unusable or require massive renovation, but its occupants were able to get out. This is the level the updated code is targeting most buildings, Paullus said.

Immediate occupancy. Building withstands a quake so well that it's repairable with a few months of work.

Essential structures. These are buildings everyone will depend on for recovery and order should a quake hit. They include police and fire stations, hospital operating rooms and military installations. These structures are so resistant, a quake may cause people inside to fall, but they can get up and go back to work.

For more information on protecting businesses and homes from earthquake damage through structural and non-structural mitigation projects, download a free copy of the IBHS guide "Earthquake Risk Around the U.S. - How to Protect Your Property."

Rare January tornado tears through south Texas

A weather system that dumped up to six inches of snow across Texas, including in Dallas, Tyler and Sulphur Springs, generated the first-ever January tornado in the southern part of the state, the National Weather Service reports.

The EF-0 tornado formed Sunday morning out of a storm system that produced winds nearing 70 mph in Alice, Texas, around 3:15 a.m. The tornado stayed on the ground for 21 miles and had a width of about 200 yards with maximum winds of about 100 mph. Properties and trees in Robstown sustained most of the damage from the storm. The system also produced damaging hail.

Property damage reports are still being compiled.

Find ways to keep your property safe from storm damage at www.DisasterSafety.org.

Disasters and losses reached new highs in 2010, new report reveals

Natural disasters worldwide cost insurers more in property losses in 2010, according to a new report.

The new analysis by Munich Re, a member of the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), reveals insurers paid $37 billion in claims, which exceeded the 10-year average of $35 billion. This pay out was also considerably higher than the $22 billion of losses in 2009.

The losses were fueled by the 950 natural catastrophes that occurred in 2010, which made the year one of the worst in the 30 years since record keeping began, and exceeded the annual average of 785 natural catastrophic events by 21 percent.

The greatest losses of life and property were the result of earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Central China; a heat wave in Russia, and floods in Pakistan. Even though the fatalities were highest in Haiti, the insured losses were greatest in Chile with $30 billion in damage because most Haitian properties were not insured.

According to the report, global insurers had high levels of earthquake exposure in Chile because of the lower risks associated with the modern building codes that were adopted and enforced after other earthquakes in that country's history. These codes resulted in lower fatalities and reduced property damage overall.

In Pakistan, rainfall from monsoons between July and September resulted in $9.5 billion in insured damage.

The 2010 hurricane season spared the United States, despite having the highest number of storms recorded in the last 100 years. There were a total of 19 tropical cyclones during the year, making it the third highest in recorded history. Overall, the season was a quiet one for insurers. Still, the unusually high amount of tropical activity has insurers watching for what's next.

In a release, Munich Re’s Reinsurance CEO Torsten Jeworrek said, “2010 showed the major risks we have to cope with. There were a number of severe earthquakes. The hurricane season was also eventful – it was just fortunate that the tracks of most of the storms remained over the open sea. But things could have turned out very differently. The severe earthquakes and the hurricane season with so many storms demonstrate once again that there must be no slackening of our efforts to analyse these risks in detail and provide the necessary insurance covers at adequate prices. These prices calculated by the insurance industry make it possible to assess the economic consequences of these otherwise difficult-to-evaluate risks.”

Find effective ways to reduce the risk of your home or business being damaged by a natural disaster and maintenance information at www.DisasterSafety.org.

Natural disasters cost reinsurers $20 billion in 2010, report says

Earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand topped the list of costliest disasters for reinsurers in 2010, according to a new report.

The new report by Guy Carpenter & Company, an affiliate member of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, found the reinsurance industry paid $8 billion in losses associated with the Chilean earthquake, while the New Zealand earthquake carried a price tag of $4 billion in insured damage.

Of the eight natural catastrophes that individually caused insured losses of more than $1 billion, five were related to severe weather and storms in the United States, Australia and Europe, for a total loss of $7.9 billion, according to the report. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico was the only man-made event to result in insured losses of $1 billion or more in 2010 at approximately $3.5 billion.

Guy Carpenter also reports that reinsurance losses in the United States generally matched those of 2009, totalling $11.2 billion in the first nine months of 2010. This was a decline from the $25.2 billion paid by reinsurers in 2008, due mostly to losses from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

Limiting exposures to natural disasters such as hail, high winds, hurricanes, wind-driven water and wildfire is the goal of the new IBHS Research Center, of which Guy Carpenter is a founding member. Learn more about this unique, world-class facility.

Disaster-related insured losses continued climbing trend in 2010

Year end figures for insured catastrophe losses worldwide are emerging from leading firms, most recently including Aon Benfield and Swiss Re, which agree disaster-related losses are on the rise.

Aon Benfield, an affiliate member of the Institute for Business & Home Safety, reports in its "Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report" that "global natural catastrophic activity was far higher than in the previous three years, with 314 separate events." The report tallies overall economic losses at $252 billion and insured losses at $38 billion. This is an increase from 2009, when there were 222 events that resulted in $58 billion in economic losses and $20 billion insured losses.

Aon Benfield's tally is a slight increase from one recently released by Swiss Re, which put total economic losses at $222 billion and insured losses at $36 billion.

Regardless of the dollar figure, there is little doubt the costliest disaster of 2010 for insurers was the earthquake in Chile, which resulted in insured losses of $8.5 billion. In terms of economic losses, flooding in Pakistan topped the 2010 list of events with a price tag of more than $30 billion.

One effective way to reduce disaster-related insured and economic losses is to take a communitywide approach to mitigation. Through the new IBHS Research Center and its other options, IBHS is working to develop cost-effective retrofit options for existing properties, new construction solutions and to push for the adoption and enforcement of strong, modern building codes. These types of codes were credited for reducing insured losses in Chile, which adopted modern codes to reduce earthquake damage. Read more about IBHS public policy efforts.

Rare tornado in Oregon damages properties

A rare tornado struck the small town of Aumsville, Ore., about 45 miles south of Portland, on Tuesday. The twister damaged several homes and businesses.

The tornado touched down at 11:45 a.m. local time Tuesday. It was the first to touch down in the state since Dec. 9, 2009, when a tornado hit Lincoln County near the coast, according to the National Weather Service. Eleven homes and three cars were damaged, but no one was hurt.

It was one of four Oregon tornadoes in the past decade, all causing only property damage, the weather service reports. Damage assessment teams from the weather service are in the area this week to measure the breadth of the storm and its wind speed.

The 1990s was an active period for tornadoes in Oregon when at least 16 tornadoes touched down. On April 5, 1972, a tornado that started in Portland crossed the Columbia River and killed six people, injured about 300 more and causing $3 million in damage in the Vancouver area.

When repairing storm damage, such as replacing a roof, consider ways to protect it from future storms, recommends the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). The IBHS FORTIFIED suite of programs offers guidance for making homes more disaster resistant through stronger new construction and by retrofitting existing properties when renovating or making repairs.

Learn more about FORTIFIED. See how well a FORTIFIED home stands up to high wind conditions in this fascinating IBHS video.

Reducing property losses promotes healthy insurance market, says IBHS

More than two years after Hurricane Ike devastated parts of Texas, many home and business owners are still recovering. So is the the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA), the state's insurer of last resort for windstorm coverage.

Today, Texas lawmakers will begin considering how to fix TWIA, which is still paying out millions of dollars in claims to victims of Hurricane Ike, the Texas Tribune reports. A joint House-Senate panel created by a 2009 bill will look at ways to restructure the program, which could include limiting the availability of insurance.

Reducing the risk of property damage due to hurricanes, hail storms and other natural disasters is one way to ensure a healthy insurance market, says Julie Rochman, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Business & Home Safety. Finding effective ways to reduce losses was the motivation behind opening the new IBHS Research Center. See the Grand Opening Wind Demonstration Tests conducted this fall at the lab.

"Property insurance is one of those areas where loss costs continue to be through the roof," Ms. Rochman told Insurance Journal. "With investments being what they are today, the way to get to profitability, the way to keep a robust, healthy private insurance market is to lower losses. And that's what we're going to try to do [at the IBHS Research Center] is save the industry — and therefore our policyholders —millions of dollars in natural hazard losses every year."

Rochman, a former exec at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), knows firsthand the impact of such research. The IIHS — a similar, industry-funded organization to IBHS - tests cars for safety and damage resistance and is a major player in getting carmakers to optimize life-saving and claims-reducing features.

IBHS already offers homeowners an alternative to traditional construction through its FORTIFIED for Safer Living^® new construction program, which was battle-tested by Hurricane Ike in Texas. Read more about how well FORTIFIED homes performed in hurricane conditions in the IBHS report "Hurricane Ike: Nature's Force vs. Structural Strength."

Steps to protect your business from winter weather

If you own or operate a business, you know every penny counts. Reduce the risk of property damage putting a damper on profits this winter by taking a few simple precautions from the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). .

At Closing Time

Adjust the Thermostat -
In colder climates, adjust the temperature to 55 degrees before closing. This will keep the pipes from freezing.
In warmer climates, adjust the air conditioning to 85 degrees before closing to protect against humidity and potential mold exposure.

During Holiday Closures

Protect Plumbing -
Unless the building has a fire protection sprinkler system, shut off the water and drain the water lines before you close for the holidays.
Shut off the gas to the water heater, or turn the temperature control to a very low or “vacation” setting.
If the building has a water softener, shut off the supply line. Unplug or turn off any non-essential appliances, boilers or machinery.

Prevent Water Damage -
If you choose not to shut off the water, inspect for leaks and turn off the water supply to individual fixtures.
Unplug appliances and ensure any sump pumps are working properly.
Insulate pipes in colder climates.
Consider installation of an electronic leak detection system, either local or monitored.

Routine Maintenance

Prevent Leaks -
Check the roof for loose or missing shingles or needed repairs.
Make sure gutters are cleaned out, downspouts extend away from the foundation, and splash blocks slope away from the building.
Caulk seams and cracks
around all pipes where they exit roofs and exterior walls, flashing seams between the roof and siding,
door and window frames, and any vents or antennae.

Plan for Rain, Hail and High Winds -
Trim dead vegetation around the building.
Bring inside any exterior furniture or fixtures indoors.
Close and lock all doors, windows, skylights and vents to keep out wind and wind driven rain.
If appropriate, install storm windows, doors or hurricane shutters.

Find more property protection solutions from IBHS at www.DisasterSafety.org

Are you a mitigationite?

Do you look around at the images of devastation broadcast so widely - and unfortunately, so frequently - these days on the 24-hours news cycle and think "why did this have to happen?" If you're like us, you don't understand why everyone doesn't see the simple, obvious benefits of everyone having a strong, safe place to call home or a business to go back to when disasterous conditions improve.

At IBHS, we want effective mitigation everywhere across the country, and for everyone, regardless of the value of their assets. We know that those assets – which are homes and businesses in the IBHS world – deserve protection. As do the families, businesses, and communities attached to those assets. We can’t understand why everyone doesn’t see the world the way we do, because we know with certainty that if mitigation was truly a core public value, the world would be a much safer, better and happier place.

Maybe you are one of us “Mitigationites.”

Join us and celebrate a FORTIFIED Nation, where strong structures make strong communities. Find out more - www.DisasterSafety.org/conference.