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Volume 21, Issue 4, April 2019
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| Ada Monzón, Leslie Chapman-Henderson, Debra Ballen, and Mark Bove |
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Partners Talk Resilience on the Road at AMS
On March 28, approximately 200 attendees gathered in the nation's capital at the American Association for the Advancement of Science for the 2019 American Meteorological Society (AMS) Washington Forum to examine public policy issues across weather, water, and climate sciences.
FLASH President & CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson participated in a panel entitled, Hurricane Resiliency: Protecting American Life and Property from Storms of the Future alongside panelists Ada Monzón, Chief Meteorologist - WIPR-TV and Univision Radio and 2018 National Weatherperson of the Year; Debra Ballen, General Counsel & SVP of Public Policy - Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety; and Mark Bove, Natural Catastrophe Solutions Manager - Munich Reinsurance.
Read More >
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Building Science Experts Convene at EMI
FLASH EVP Eric Vaughn and Leslie Chapman-Henderson attended the annual FEMA Building Science Workgroup Meeting at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) on April 2 and 3, joining academic partners, FEMA leaders, mitigation officials, floodplain managers, nonprofits, state mitigation officials, tribal members, and additional federal agencies. FEMA's John Ingargiola, Lead Physical Scientist, Building Science Branch, led the two-day program that included a briefing by Leslie about the new consumer-focused building code awareness campaign, No Code. No Confidence.
Dale Thomure, Manager of ISO Community Mitigation from Legacy Partner ISO presented on the new 2019 Building Code Assessment Report which details the status of the nation's building codes, including individual assessments of each participating state. The report provides a detailed state-level examination of building codes and their enforcement. This edition is an update of ISO's groundbreaking 2015 report and can be downloaded by clicking here.
Read More >
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President and CEO Honored with Prestigious William Gray Award
awarded nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) President and CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson the William Gray Award in honor of her twenty-year legacy of service to the cause of hurricane preparedness, safety, and resilience. Ms. Chapman-Henderson received the award on the opening day of the annual gathering of hurricane experts.
"Leslie, FLASH and their many partners provide life-saving information about how to best protect families and homes from the threat of natural disasters", said Alex Garcia, Chief Meteorologist - FOX 29 San Antonio and President/CEO - NTWC. "This award is a testament to Leslie's leadership in the disaster safety and resilience movement and the work she does every day to protect America's families from hazards of all kinds."
Read More >
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Aris Papadopoulos |
Partner Spotlight - Aris Papadopoulos
Aris Papadopoulos is the founder of the nonprofit Resilience Action Fund.
Q: How did you get interested in disaster safety?
On September 11, 2001, I was meeting with Port Authority at 9 a.m. on the 65th floor of the North Tower. Surviving the World Trade Center attack dramatically changed the way I look at what and how we build. A few years later, I joined the board of CTL Group, one of the primary investigators of the towers' collapse. Prior to 9/11, I'd lived through two earthquakes in Greece, an industrial fire, and since moving to Miami I've witnessed several hurricanes.
My 25-year career in heavy construction materials exposed me to the inner workings of the building industry. What I saw alarmed me, and I began questioning why the system rewards risk-taking rather than resilient construction.
In 2010, I was one of the first business people to help the UN's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), later serving a two-year term as global chair of their private sector initiative, now known as ARISE. This experience provided me with a broader perspective on vulnerability, while confirming that the US is #1 (worse) in disaster economic losses.
Read More >
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ISO Releases National Building Code Assessment Report
The ISO 2019
National Building Code Assessment Report
in now available for download with an examination of the code enforcement efforts of more than 25,000 building departments in the United States. The report offers insights and serves as a critical measure of building code adoption and enforcement. Building codes are the foundation of resilience and provide one of the most essential tools to prevent and/or mitigate disaster losses.
The report was developed by the ISO Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS®) team, which assesses building codes in effect and grades communities on both code adoption and enforcement. The report also features new modeled analyses from AIR Worldwide of natural hazards and catastrophes in each state and diverse perspectives on catastrophe mitigation from the federal government, nonprofit organizations, and academia. Read More >
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New FEMA Fact Sheets Available
FEMA Building Sciences at HQ (Building Science Branch - BSB) and Region IV are pleased to announce the
release of two fact sheets
aimed at reducing risk and improving resilience to buildings and their utility systems. The fact sheets explain that, before building in your community, it is important to recognize the hazards that may be present, their potential impact, and provides numerous considerations and resources to help mitigate those risks. Effective design, construction, code enforcement and building to or exceeding the latest standard of practice, increases the disaster resilience of structures and their associated utility systems exposed to risk, thereby reducing damages and injuries. Read More >
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State Farm Releases List of Top Ten Hail Damage States
There are approximately 3,000 hailstorms in the U.S. every year. Hail occurs most often during severe weather patterns, such as strong thunderstorms, and causes billions of dollars in damage to buildings, vehicles, and crops annually.
In 2018, State Farm paid more than $2.7 billion for more than 280,000 auto and homeowners insurance hail damage claims.
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IEM Wins Major Department of Defense National Security Services Contract
IEM announced it was awarded a $37 billion U.S. Army contract to support a wide array of Department of Defense national security services through the Army's Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract.
Under this IDIQ contract, IEM will be eligible to compete for individual task orders in competition with other awardees. Tasks will cover a wide range of national security services including engineering, research, development, testing and evaluation, logistics, acquisition, strategic planning, education, and training.
Read More >
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Verisk Releases
2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
Learn how Verisk is balancing 100 percent of its carbon emissions, developing a stronger culture and more inclusive workplace, helping charitable organizations advance their missions globally and locally, or following best practices related to corporate governance. Read more about it in the
2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
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Collaboration Opportunities and Upcoming Events
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New Public Awareness Campaign Preview on Agenda for Hurricane Conference
Join FLASH President & CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson in New Orleans at the
National Hurricane Conference
for the preview of the new multimedia building code awareness campaign No Code. No Confidence. during the General Session on April 24.
No Code. No Confidence.
is a research-derived, consumer-focused project that features a user-friendly, interactive website InspectToProtect.org and creative public service announcements.
The campaign is designed to increase awareness of the role of building codes and standards, to promote a better understanding of the benefits of current model codes, and to create market demand for adoption and enforcement of building codes.
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2019 International Code Council Committee Action Hearings
The International Code Council is hosting its 2019 Committee Action Hearings from April 28 to May 8, 2019, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hearing participants will address potential changes to the International Codes (I-Codes) based on proposals from the building safety community, including code officials, architects, builders, engineers, and fire and energy conservation professionals, among others.
The I-Codes are the most widely used and adopted set of modern building safety codes; they protect against fires, weather-related events, structural collapse and other disasters. The Code Council code development process is transparent, accessible and inclusive, and all interested parties are encouraged to participate in the development of the 2021 I-Codes.
Read More >
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NDRC19 Presenting Partner Lineup Grows
NDRC19
registration
is now open and several levels of sponsorship are still available for this year's conference.
When you sponsor, you will join FLASH Legacy Partner and Titanium Sponsor International Code Council along with fellow Legacy Partners Gold Sponsors BASF Corporation and USAA, and Silver Sponsor ISO to show your support for resiliency. Take advantage of the exclusive opportunities to make sure the voice and value of your brand is heard by the key, targeted audiences you want to reach. This
prospectus
will help you identify the ideal sponsorship level to meet your needs. Read More >
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Save the Date - National Storm Shelter Conference
Mark your calendars for the 2019 Storm Shelter Conference presented by the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) on November 12 -13 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Conference registration will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, November 12 at the Hilton Birmingham UAB, directly followed by the meeting's start at 8:30 a.m.
The primary purpose of NSSA is to ensure their members produce the highest quality of residential, commercial, and community safe rooms for protecting people from injury or loss of life from the effects of tornadoes and other wind related events.
For more details about the conference, visit nssa.cc.
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Site Selected for 2020 National Earthquake Conference
Save the date for the 2020 National Earthquake Conference (NEC) set for March 4 - 6 at the Sheraton Hotel & Marina San Diego.
Every four years, the NEC brings together seismic stakeholders to address the science, policy, and practical developments in the earthquake and tsunami safety realm. The 2016 conference drew worldwide experts, inspired an immediate increase in financial support for earthquake safety research, and generated an ongoing, global dialogue about challenges the U.S. faces with seismic risk.
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