Author Archives: Justin Smulison

About Justin Smulison

Justin Smulison is the business content manager at RIMS and the host of RIMScast, the society's weekly podcast.
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Inadequate Emergency System Contributes to Indonesia’s Rising Death Toll Following Earthquake and Tsunami

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The death toll on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi has risen to 1,200 as of this morning, in the aftermath of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday and the tsunami that followed. As emergency crews still lead efforts to locate and save victims and clear debris, officials warn that the number of casualties could rise further.

The current warning system is comprised of tidal gauge stations augmented by land-based seismographs, sirens in about 55 locations and a system to disseminate warnings by text message. Time reported that the country had not updated its emergency notification systems (ENS) following the 2004 tsunami that devastated the region, due in part to lack of funding. According to Time:

The high-tech system of seafloor sensors, data-laden sound waves and fiber-optic cable was meant to replace a system set up after an earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people in the region in 2004. But inter-agency wrangling and delays in getting just 1 billion rupiah ($69,000) to complete the project mean the system hasn’t moved beyond a prototype developed with $3 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Analysts say that a proper ENS would have provided earlier warnings of the disasters and may have prevented some of the casualties.

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At the time of impact, the country was already dealing with the fallout of major seismic activity in the region. Within the span of about a week in late July and early August, the Indonesian resort island of Lombok was the site of intense earthquakes that killed hundreds, displaced hundreds of thousands and destroyed more than 13,000 houses.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of the country’s location in the “Ring of Fire,” the arc of volcanoes and active fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

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Sutopo Purow Nugroho, a National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman, said communications with the earthquake-stricken region were disrupted.

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“Our early estimation, based on experience, is that it caused widespread damage, beginning from Palu northward to Donggala,” he told MetroTV.

It seems as though social media will have to play a more central role in alerting the public of new disasters. This morning, Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) tweeted a new alert of a 5.0 magnitude quake near the North Central Timor Regency in East Nusa Tengarra – an Indonesian province – that could potentially lead to a tsunami.

Terror Attacks Hit Five-Year Worldwide Low

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There is some good news for international travelers: Terror attacks and casualties continue to decline worldwide. New information released by the U.S. State Department last week found that there has been a 23% drop in attacks from 2016 to 2017 and a 27.

1% drop in victims killed in the same one-year period.

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According to Statista, the number of incidents dropped to 8,584 and deaths to 18,753. Seventy percent of those fatalities were concentrated in five war-torn countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria.

Statista reported:

President Trump is doubling down on this tough stance, which is part of a wider pivot happening across the State Department [and] the Bureau moving away from a decades-long focus on fighting foreign extremist groups to concentrating on state adversaries.

The focus on Iran echoes sentiments from the State Department, which last week published a report warning of Iran’s illegal and destructive activities:

In addition to its support of proxies and terrorist groups abroad, Iran also harbors terrorists within its own borders, thereby facilitating their activities. Iran continues to allow Al Qaeda operatives to reside in Iran, where they have been able to move money and fighters to South Asia and Syria.

RIMS Legislative Summit Focuses on NFIP Renewal

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The menacing presence of Hurricane Florence turned the focus at the RIMS Legislative Summit to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), an ever-important issue for business owners across the country.

The NFIP has been extended several times since September 2017 and the next deadline to reauthorize the program is Nov. 30. The summit’s timing was especially relevant as Hurricane Florence approached the Eastern Seaboard just 300 miles south of the summit, expected to make landfall on Friday.

An Industry Perspective of Federal Legislative Issues
Moderated by Whitney Craig, RIMS director of government relations, a panel discussion, “NFIP & Beyond” featured insight from Jennifer Webb, counsel for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, and Joel Wood and Blaire Bartlett of the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and its CouncilPAC.

The panelists came to a consensus that a reauthorized NFIP was critical, and that upcoming midterm elections would influence the amount of time an extension would be granted. They acknowledged that a gap in coverage is certainly not ideal and said their offices are working on a bi-partisan resolution.

Bartlett said that improving NFIP through privatization will be a give-and-take process.

“To its credit, FEMA has done what it is able to do as far as claims processing goes. They have taken a multiyear look. If you want to open up the private markets, that will have to be balanced with some claims legislation—we’re going to have to give in some on claims language,” Bartlett said, noting that, “If Hurricane Florence does hit the Carolinas, some of the members may not be willing to call out the federal government the way New Yorkers did after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.”

And while there were some civil disagreements, the trio did find some common ground. For example, FEMA’s flood maps were rebuked for failing when put to the test by a real flood as seen in Houston in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey.

“I think we can agree that NFIP needs some modernizations, but there’s a way to do that without closing down a program that is being used by 5 million people,” Webb said.  “We didn’t see that in Texas but we could see it in the Carolinas.”

Congressional Staff Panel
This panel featured two senior congressional staffers for the U.S. House of Representatives – John Y. Hair, financial services committee designee for Congressman John Duffy (R-WI); and Lucas West, legislative director for Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO).

Discussions largely centered on NFIP reauthorization, Hurricane Florence and the upcoming elections.

“We have just over two months to get it through before the expiration and it’s really on the Senate. We’re putting pressure on the Senate for a long-term, five-year bill that actually makes some reforms,” Hair said.

Also discussed was the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which created a temporary federal program that provides public and private compensation due to terrorism-related losses, which is set to expire in December 2020. And while the traditional issues of insurance were discussed, cybersecurity, data breaches and even autonomous vehicles were also included.

Regarding autonomous vehicles, Hair said, “Certainly, access to data is going to be important on decisions regarding ‘who’s going to take the liability [in the event of a crash]?’ This could lead to a huge push to reform our liability system. We’re engaging in the risk of [commercial and taxi driver] licenses right now.”

Midterm Election: Insider Update
Mike Gula, co-founder of Gula Graham, the largest Republican fundraising firm in the U.S., discussed how attendees, members and their companies can strategically position themselves with upcoming midterm elections in November.

Gula said that because dozens of congressional seats are up for grabs in the election, companies and insurers may need to prepare for changes to laws that will impact their policies and coverage.

On day two of the summit, dozens of RIMS members descended on Capitol Hill for meetings with congressional leaders. The goal was to share RIMS priorities for a long-term, reauthorized NFIP via H.R. 2874, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, and funding for non-regulatory maps that project future flood risks. Later, in the Rayburn House Office Building, Florida Congressman Dennis Ross spoke to RIMS members and echoed their sentiments about NFIP and how flood maps were in desperate need of a thorough update.

Access RIMScast coverage of the summit.

Q&A: School Shooter Preparedness

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Schools across the country are back in session. And in the wake of high-profile school shootings earlier this year, safety is a top priority for students, parents, educators and communities. Steven Smith, founder and president of Guardian Defense, specializes in active shooter preparedness and works with education industry leaders to keep their facilities safe.

We reached out to Smith to discuss how preparedness strategies have changed, the types of plans schools implement and for ways to better incorporate them into their culture.

Risk Management Monitor: How have recent school shootings impacted the way you train clients?

Steve Smith: Every mass shooting at a school impacts our training because we learn a little bit more from these horrific events on how to prepare, train and react. Parkland was different for our company because it hit home as this event occurred in our nearby community. Parkland impacted us, our staff, our community and our friends personally. Along with my SWAT Team, I responded to the incident and arrived on scene approximately 30 minutes after the incident. Some of our staff had friends working in the school and knew of other co-workers who had their children attending the school during that time.

RMM: Have they changed active shooter preparedness plans among schools?

SS: By the time law enforcement arrive on scene during a mass casualty incident, the damage has often already been done. The teachers and staff at the schools must receive training, understand the situation, make their own decisions and put action behind it. This will help mitigate mass casualties.

Active shooter preparedness plans change at times depending on the individual school, if they are private, or in a county with a large school district. The biggest hurdle I find in the change in policies is the lack of knowledge and experience. Generally speaking, the “active shooter” concern has not been in school or corporate safety plans for very long. Most administrators tasked with providing training and updating safety plans for this type of threat were never in a formal “lockdown” drill when they were students, themselves. Recognizing this, they rely on the experts for guidance and training to provide them with realistic policies, training and a drill plan for their staff.

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RMM: What are the potential risks or benefits of arming teachers?

SS: The perception of every teacher being armed in our schools is not yet a reality in this country. There are alternatives to arming teachers in classrooms. One that immediately comes to mind is training.

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A teacher with no previous training will have to incur at least two weeks of firearm training and even more tactical training on how to respond to these incidents. This will take time and money, which is usually hard to come by in any school or business.

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Other alternatives that meet safety needs have been discussed and approved in many districts. Schools have hired police officers in their cities to work off-duty employment. This would be my first recommendation because officers are trained and obligated to respond to this threat.

RMM: What are the factors risk professionals should consider when choosing a preparedness plan?

SS: All facets of security are important, such as structural hardening and security upgrades, but if we are building a foundation for active threat preparedness, our recommendation is to follow our model of Policy-Train-Drill.

In order to respond appropriately to a threat on site, every individual needs to understand how to make decisions for themselves and put action behind it. Time is not on our side when it comes to this type of crisis and people, in general, have stood by to wait for direction and instruction when there is an emergency. In these incidents, delayed responses can equate to mass casualties. Therefore, putting the response plans on paper, training all staff, and conducting drills are where we find the best starting point for active threat preparedness.

RMM: When hosting an event, what can risk managers do to avoid a shooting like the recent one in Jacksonville?

SS: If an incident gets to the point where an attacker is carrying out their plan, it does not mean the hosting site failed. In some instances, indications of a threat are not clear or available, making intervention efforts difficult. We can prepare beforehand for a possible threat.

  • My first recommendation would be to meet with the local police department and inform them of the event. Request to pay for a detail officer to be on site. The number of hired officers would depend on the projected number of attendees. The officer’s presence alone could deter an attack.
  • I would also request to have a meeting with the police supervisor that would be working the day of the event and share the floor plans and emergency procedures with all contact information, so law enforcement and fire would have everything they need in case of an emergency.
  • If there are no police available on that day, consider hiring armed security officers to be on site.
  • Inside the event site, install a security checkpoint with bag checks or security wands being utilized to ensure no weapons are being brought into the event. Depending on the event, prior notice can be communicated that a strict “no-bag policy” will be enforced.
  • Meet with staff beforehand and establish a “safety team” that will discuss vulnerabilities and how you will remedy them.

Regardless of the event, security must be the utmost priority and will at times feel inconvenient for the guests, but the old saying, “Safety first” is how we need to think and prepare in today’s world.