States Urged to Prepare for Catastrophes by Enforcing Smarter Land Use

The country needs to consider where and how it builds if it is to avoid the worst effects of another Hurricane Katrina or Sept. 11 attack, according to experts at the recent National Conference of Insurance Legislators annual meeting in San Diego.

“We design our own disasters by poor land use planning,” Frank Nutter, president of the Rein-surance Association of America, told the state lawmakers.

Alex Soto, president of Insource Inc. and president-elect of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, agreed that zoning and building codes should be addressed. “We allow people to rebuild in irresponsible areas. We need to get a collective backbone and look at code inspection systems and put that information out there,” he said.
The experiences of Katrina and Sept. 11 should be used to improve land use laws and building codes but that is not enough. Once these rules are updated, they need to be followed. “We learned a lot from Katrina, but we need more prepared discipline and disciplined enforcement,” Edward Collins, counsel for Allstate, noted.

David Maurstad, the acting director of the mitigation division for Federal Emergency Management Agency, agreed with the need for a more intrusive system of checks and balances for new construction of homes and businesses, while acknowledging that mandatory enforcement presents a real challenge.

The country also needs to improve its disaster response systems. “Mega-catastrophes are big and they are not going away,” said Dr. Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy for the Kauffman Foundation, adding that the current response system is “flawed and needs to be fixed.”

While he would welcome a better response and recovery system, Allstate’s Collins urged a different priority. “We’re focused on recovery and rebuilding,” Collins said. “We need to do a better job of preparing and protecting. We’ve had enough wake up calls … we need to strengthen the infrastructure of this country.”

Clarissa Preston, who was recently promoted to deputy commissioner of Property and Casual-ty for the Louisiana Department of Insurance, said making residents and business owners aware of their options when it comes to insurance is key. “Many consumers did not know that flood insurance was available to them,” Preston remarked. “We’re [LDI] doing a lot of educating in the FEMA disaster recovery centers.”

FEMA’s Maurstad, a former independent insurance agent, acknowledged that training for insurance agents on flood insurance could be better. “We need to improve agent training for flood so they have a better understanding of the policies,” he said.

But even when they are aware of coverages, consumers often decline the option, others noted.

Addressing workers’ comp after Katrina
Louisiana officials have been trying to meet and anticipate changes in the workers’ compensation field as the recovery from Hurricane Katrina continues.

Steven Cavanaugh, chief executive officer of the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation, told NCOIL that the region still faces enormous challenges, including a loss of many jobs, increased demand for certain types workers, such as clean-up crews, and a lack of suitable permanent housing for necessary employees, including hotel and restaurant staff.

According to Cavanaugh, officials have addressed certain concerns regarding workers’ compensation coverage through emergency orders, including a ban on policy cancellations, requirements to renew policies for a limited period of time, and dispute resolution suspensions.

Topics Catastrophe Agencies Workers' Compensation Louisiana