Saving lives and protecting property
By: J. David Chapman/March 8, 2018
Recently, the seventh annual National Tornado Summit and disaster symposium was hosted by the Oklahoma Insurance Department, University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, National Weather Service, and National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
It serves as a national forum for experts to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery in order to save lives and property. Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak welcomed about 650 attendees as well as fellow insurance commissioners from six states and state Rep. Glen Mulready. Gov. Mary Fallin recognized Commissioner Doak for his dedication and commitment to this conference and his service to the state of Oklahoma.
What started out seven years ago as a tornado summit has grown into a three-day, multidiscipline conference focused on many different disaster threats, including tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, hail, and earthquakes. This conference had such a focus on issues impacting the built environment that even a real estate guy like me managed to find applicable information in nearly every session. Seventeen UCO students and insurance industry professionals volunteered at sessions, scanning participate badges for continuing education credit for agents and adjusters.
On the initial day of the summit, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety partnered with the National Tornado Summit to offer an exclusive opportunity in Fortified Wise Home training certification. Also, there was an option to tour the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman.
Several sessions had strong implications for the commercial real estate industry. A session on wind and hail damage to commercial roofing discussed communication between building owners and operators, roofing contractors, and insurance adjusters. Design, materials, and insulation issues that contribute to the failure of roof systems were addressed.
Another session on developing a wind mitigation program showed how Alabama legislated, developed, and implemented wind mitigation discounts for residential and commercial buildings and discussed comparisons to Oklahoma’s recent legislation adopting wind mitigation discounts for IBHS Fortified Home standards. Case studies of recent hurricane-produced tornadoes were considered, showing how different building designs performed and recommending tornado-resilient design strategies in order to mitigate tornado impacts to our communities. Another session discussed standardizing methods to estimate wind speeds in tornadoes, including improvements and additions to the damage-based Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale).
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).