Webinar: Building resilient businesses and communities in the time of COVID-19

On May 14 the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), co-hosted a webinar with ResilientH20 Partners that focused on managing extreme weather events in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panelists discussed the changing role of stakeholders across the private sector, governments and non-profit/NGOs.  

The panelists drew from their backgrounds across government, business and insurance to discuss the immediate challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the downturn in the economy, and near-term flood and storm threats. 

Click here to view a recording of the webinar.

Co-hosts:

Dr. Michel Léonard, Vice President & Senior Economist, Triple-IRichard Seline, Managing Director, ResilientH20 Partners

Panelists:

Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director, Public Sector Innovation, Marsh & McLennanJeff Moseley, CEO, Texas Association of BusinessKatie Sabo, State and Local Leader, Managing Director, Public Sector Partnership, Aon

Moderator:

Chris Tomlinson, Business Columnist, Houston Chronicle

Some of the key takeaways include:

Having a business continuity plan is a must-have for any businessFlooding can occur anywhere (not just high-risk zones) – so getting flood insurance is crucialIn the midst of the pandemic, we can’t lose sight of the importance of investing in mitigation and resilience, which will help on a material level post-eventThe COVID-19 crisis is putting unprecedented pressure on local governments – if private investors have ideas for disaster mitigation, especially ones where return on investment can be shown – now is the time to bring them, and they will be heardInsurers are and will be playing bigger roles in partnering with local governments to build public/private solutions to disaster resilience

This webinar is the first in a new series of thought leadership sessions that aims to be a catalyst for public-private-partnerships focused on enhancing pre-disaster risk mitigation at each step of the resilience value-chain, from financing to development, management, technology selection and crisis-management.

The Atlantic hurricane season starts on Monday, June 1, but could get an early start this weekend with Tropical Storm Arthur.