National Flood Conference In San Francisco Will Focus On Risk Communication, Hazard Reduction
Release Date: May 22, 2003
Release Number: HQ-03-119
» 2003 Region IX News Releases
Washington, D.C. -- More than 800 insurance professionals, bankers, realtors, local and state officials, and top officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will gather in San Francisco May 27-30 to discuss the importance of taking active steps to protect lives and property from the flood hazards.
The four-day National Flood Conference at the San Francisco Hilton & Towers will examine new developments in a highly successful federal program that pays for itself and even saves taxpayers money: the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP is managed by FEMA--part of newly created Department of Homeland Security--in cooperation with the insurance and lending industries and state and local governments.
"Floods are by far the most common and most costly natural disasters in this country," said Anthony S. Lowe, federal insurance administrator and director of FEMA's Mitigation Division. "This conference provides an opportunity to exchange information on protecting people and reducing the effects of flooding through mitigation and preparedness actions like flood-proofing and flood insurance."
In the past two years, the NFIP paid flood victims nearly $1.3 billion in claims. Those claims, paid from policyholder premiums, reduced the need for federal disaster assistance, which is funded by tax dollars. Furthermore, it is estimated that the program's required floodplain management ordinances, adopted and enforced at the community level, reduce nationwide flood damage by more than $1 billion annually.
The 2003 National Flood Conference will include more than 30 seminars and technical/educational workshops of special interest to insurance companies, agents, lenders and state and local officials. Subjects include updates on FEMA's multi-hazard map modernization program and new map products, risk communication, flood insurance mandatory purchase compliance, repetitive loss properties, underwriting/rating/claims issues, and much more. Exhibits will display the latest computer software and information systems for use in flood zone determination, hazard mitigation, digital mapping and claims adjusting.
There will be ample opportunity for attendees to exchange ideas, ask questions and seek information about all flood insurance and hazard mitigation topics. They will have the opportunity to question experts at "town hall" meetings and at a Hot Issues panel discussion.
A reception and pre-conference meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, May 27.
Administrator Lowe is the keynote speaker at the opening general session at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28. Lowe oversees a number of the nation's leading multi-hazard risk reduction programs, which seek to secure the homeland from natural and man-made hazards. They include the NFIP, the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, the National Dam Safety Program and the National Hurricane Program. In his position, Lowe works closely with public and private risk managers and leaders in government, industry, research and academia.
The guest speaker at Thursday's awards luncheon is John Paling, a former professor at England's Oxford University and a pioneer in the field of risk communication. He is president of the Risk Communication Institute and author of the book, Up to Your Armpits in Alligators? How to Sort Out What Risks Are Worth Worrying About. Paling invented the Paling Perspective Scale, which enables non-technical people to put risks into perspective and more effectively prioritize their resources to achieve their goals. The Paling Perspective Scale is widely used by companies that want to communicate the trustworthiness of their products and services to the public, the media and regulators.
Speakers at Friday's closing general session include Patty Templeton-Jones, vice president of First Community Insurance Co. and chair of the WYO Marketing Committee and the NFIP NextGen Marketing, Communications and Training Joint Working Group; Michael Moye, a vice president of Bank of America and past president of the National Lenders' Insurance Council; Rhonda Kleine, vice president of special markets at Omaha Property and Casualty and chair of the Institute for Business and Home Safety Flood Committee; and J. Fletcher Willey, president and owner of the J. Fletcher Willey Insurance Agency and chair of the Flood Insurance Producers National Committee
The U.S. Congress established the NFIP in 1968 to make flood insurance available to property owners in communities that adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood losses by regulating new construction. Currently, more than 4.4 million policies are in force in nearly 20,000 participating communities nationwide, representing more than $640 billlion worth of coverage.
Last Modified: Thursday, 22-May-2003 16:38:42