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Anticipating Hurricane Matthew, 4 States Declare Emergency

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Rebounding to Category 4 hurricane classification, Matthew now has winds up to 140 miles per hour and has caused at least 28 deaths in three Caribbean countries. It is heading for the southeastern U.S., where four states—Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina—have issued a state of emergency and evacuation orders in coastal regions.

Matthew was a Category 4 hurricane through Tuesday, was downgraded to a Category 3 early on Wednesday, and has now returned to Category 4 strength today, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a warning on Thursday urging those in evacuation zones to leave immediately. “Based on the current forecast, the heights of storm surge will be above ground. Waves will be crashing on roofs. Homes will be destroyed,” he tweeted in both English and Spanish on Thursday morning.

“Time is up, Hurricane Matthew is approaching Florida. If you are in an evacuation zone, leave now,” he said in a statement. “To everyone on Florida’s east coast, if you are reluctant to evacuate, just think of all the people the hurricane has already killed.  You and your family could be among these numbers if you don’t take this seriously.”

Scott said that so far more than 4,000 National Guard members have been activated to help with evacuations and sheltering. He tweeted that as of 6:00 a.m., more than 3,000 people were in about 60 shelters. The state offers a mobile app to help those in flood-prone areas find the nearest shelter and also avoid traffic congestion.

A state of emergency has been declared by Georgia’s governor for 13 coastal counties. South Carolina’s governor declared a state of emergency and has begun coastal evacuations that may affect up to 1 million people. Because of heavy traffic, lane reversals on some highways are in effect, and schools and government offices in 25 South Carolina counties are closed today. North Carolina’s governor has declared a state of emergency for more than 50 counties and issued a mandatory evacuation order for Ocracoke Island, AIR Worldwide reported.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has sent personnel and supplies to all four states, and President Obama is meeting with FEMA officials coordinating the response to Hurricane Matthew at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

According to CoreLogic, a Category 3 storm hitting Miami could potentially damage 176,000 homes at a reconstruction cost value (RCV) of about $3.8 billion.

CoreLogic’s Storm Surge Risk Report estimates that more than 6.8 million homes located along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts are at risk of storm surge damage, with a total RCV of about $1.5 trillion.The length of coastline, coastal elevation and density of residential development all contribute to the risk of storm surge flooding.
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According to CoreLogic, the total number and total value of residential properties for the four states currently bracing for Hurricane Matthew are:

Total Number and Total Value of Residential Properties by State

Wildfires a Reminder to Update Disaster Preparedness Plans

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Raging across the country, threatening businesses and residences alike, wildfires are a reality, burning a reported 1.

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9 million acres in the U.S. so far this year. West of Santa Barbara, firefighters have battled an intense fire for almost a week. Wildfires are also burning in Arizona and New Mexico. In Canada, the Fort McMurray blaze burned for weeks and scorched some 2,400 square miles of land—more than 1.4 million acres. In five of the past 10 years, in fact, wildfires have ranked among the top 20 worldwide loss events.

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Companies that haven’t already done so may want to assess the impact such a disaster could have on their business as well as what actions can be taken to mitigate damage.

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While most businesses believe they are prepared for a fire, especially if their building is equipped with fire alarms, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and an evacuation plan, these measures may not be enough when stress and confusion take over, according to Interstate.

Organizations could face utility interruption, impacting gas and phone syDocument recovery3stems; they may have flooding from sprinklers, which, mixed with soot, can cause other complications; there may be smoke damage, which can by carried throughout a building through air conditioning systems; and there can be chemical residue from fire suppression systems.

There also may be asbestos hazards from older building materials, ceiling and floor tiles and pipe insulation.

Planning ahead for data loss resulting from damaged computers and burned paper documents is also advised.

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Interstate lists four questions companies need to ask in advance of such a disaster:
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Another Reminder About Emergency Planning for an Active Shooter

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Washington Post shooting calendarYesterday, Dec. 2, 2015, marked the 336th day of the year and 355th mass shooting, according to the Mass Shooting Tracker, which logs incidents in which four or more people are shot. Indeed, there were two mass shootings yesterday: a smaller incident in Georgia in which a woman was killed and three men injured, and the slaughter of at least 14 people and injury of 17 at an office holiday party at San Bernadino’s Inland Regional Center, which provides social services to residents with developmental disabilities. No motive has been found thus far, but two shooters have been identified as a county employee who had attended the party and his wife.

As I wrote in the November issue of Risk Management magazine, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University found that the rate of mass shootings has tripled since 2011. According to a study released last year by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, active shooter incidents, where police arrive to a shooting in progress, are also on the rise. The FBI found that 160 of these incidents had taken place in the United States between 2000 and 2013, 70% of which occurred in either a business or educational environment. An average of 11.4 incidents occurred annually, averaging 6.4 in the first seven years studied, and 16.4 in the last seven years.

With the growing frequency and ever-increasing fatalities, risk managers clearly cannot afford to become so inured to these incidents. Rather, much like they do for other forms of crisis, from fires to tornadoes, they need to be acting now to train employees, develop emergency plans, and ensure business continuity provisions are in place.

“You have smart people leading organizations who know they need to do something, but you see them fall into a pattern of planning to have a plan, and they confuse that with taking action on the issue,” said Jay Hart, director of the Force Training Institute. “Planning to have a plan is not a plan. They need to understand that this is a leadership issue, because it is about protecting the people in the company.”

For tips on preparing for an active shooter incident, check out the Q&A with Hart from the December issue of Risk Management, and “Preparing for an Active Shooter Incident,” from the November issue. When developing a plan to respond to an active shooter crisis, make sure to:RM11.15_ff_shoot_side.630

Still Time for Last Minute Hurricane Preparations

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Hurricane Joaquin is threatening to hammer the East Coast this weekend. Joaquin reached Category 3 status late Wednesday and is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 on Thursday. Even if the storm veers from the East Coast, it is still expected to bring strong winds, pounding surf, heavy rain and flash flooding.

Joaquin track

While it may be late to start contingency planning, there is still plenty that can be done to minimize damage to property. For example, rooftops can be checked and needed repairs made, and fuel tanks and generators can be readied.

Zurich offers these tips for protecting commercial property. They are broken down into “easy actions” 48 hours from landfall and “tough actions”  36 hours from landfall.

Zurich preparation

Easy actions – 48 hours from landfall

About two days before a hurricane is expected to affect your location, begin implementing the easy actions. Easy actions include:

  • Review the hurricane emergency action plan with all involved personnel
  • Check building roofs. Make repairs to coverings and flashing as time allows
  • Remove all loose items from the roof, secure equipment doors and covers, and remove debris
  • Verify roof drains are clear of trash and other obstructions
  • Fill fuel tanks serving emergency generators and other vital services

Verify dewatering pumps are in service and working.

  • Verify outside storm drains and catch basins are clean
  • Remove debris from outdoor areas that may become “missiles”
  • Remove loose, outdoor, inactive equipment
  • Back up computer data
  • For healthcare, verify 96 hours of supplies are on hand
  • For manufacturing:
    • Ship out as much stock as possible
    • Verify all stock is skidded at least 4 inches above the floor
  • For new construction projects:
    • Remove loose equipment
    • Secure and protect material storage
    • Temporarily brace new construction
    • Secure roofing and items on the roof
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical):
    • Inventory tanks and vessels with enough material to secure them against the forces of buoyancy should they be exposed to flooding, surface water runoff or storm surge.
    • Maintain contact with suppliers of pipeline delivered materials. Those suppliers may also be making shutdown preparations.
    • Verify you will have the necessary supplies to safely shut down your process. This is especially important for processes such as olefins units, which take several days to bring down. Natural gas and oxygen are just two pipeline supplied materials to consider.
    • Verify compressed air supplies needed for control purposes.
    • Remove any accumulated rain water from storage tank spill containment areas.
    • Allow time for Emergency Response Team members who will remain on site to go home and take care of their personal needs. Based upon your specific needs, add to the list of easy actions, as these are just general concepts and every facility has its own requirements.

Tough actions – 36 hours from landfall

At 36 hours before anticipated landfall, time will be limited. Make sure you will have the staff needed to complete all of the tough actions, and leave plenty of time to evacuate personnel who will not be remaining on site (reference jurisdiction and/or authority’s announcements and requirements). The tough actions may include:

  • Protecting or relocating vital business records
  • Removing all loose outdoor storage or equipment
  • Anchoring portable buildings or trailers to the ground
  • Securing outdoor storage or equipment that cannot be moved
  • Installing manual protection systems (such as shutters, plywood covers and flood gates)
  • Raising critical equipment off floors (such as PC towers)
  • Moving critical equipment from basement and other below-ground areas
  • Covering critical stock and equipment with waterproof tarpaulins
  • Initiating an orderly shutdown of production equipment and systems that rely upon normal power
  • Turning off fuel gas services
  • Turning off non-essential electrical systems
  • Verifying all fire protection systems are in service (such as water supplies, fire pumps, sprinklers, fire alarms and special extinguishing systems)
  • For manufacturing:
    • Stopping incoming shipments of raw materials that will be exposed to damage
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical):
    • Removing and securing cable tray covers and controlling wiring radiant barriers. These are features that frequently become wind-borne debris when exposed to high winds.
    • Removing or securing scaffolding

Add to the list based upon your specific needs.

Tough-tough actions

There can be a few tough actions that take so long to complete they need to be started during the easy action period. Exceptional discipline will be required to make the decision to implement these very tough actions. These actions may include:

  • Setting up flood barriers at all first floor doors and entrances
  • Temporarily closing up buildings under construction to avoid entry of wind-driven rain
  • Installing manual shutters on multi-story buildings
  • For manufacturing, shutting down processes that will be exposed to damage
  • For heavy industry (chemical and petrochemical), shutting down processes that take several days to bring to a safe shutdown (such as olefins units)

It is absolutely essential to recognize when you have a tough-tough action. The overall plan must recognize their existence. And, the needed guidance and authority must be provided to those who will be charged with making the decision.