Hurricane Preparedness
- 00:02:48
- YouTube
Hurricane Preparedness
Homeowners outside the Gulf states remembering Hurricane Katrina this week may want to regard the tragedy as a distant one. But while the terrible levee break was unique to New Orleans, flooding can occur with little or no warning anywhere. Since January 2000, all but three states have had floods heavy enough to warrant national disaster declarations. This year, weather experts are predicting above-average odds of hurricanes hitting anywhere from Florida to Maine. And it doesn't take a hurricane to have a flood -- as heavy rains earlier this summer proved to many homeowners around the nation. Flood damage is NOT covered in most homeowners' policies -- a position just upheld in a prominent federal court case in Mississippi. Separate government-backed flood coverage, sold through most major insurance companies, is needed, yet very few homeowners have such national flood coverage. The leading property and casualty insurance companies want to remind customers to check their policies carefully, and to call their agent or company with any questions or doubts. Jeanne Salvatore, senior vice president and spokesperson for the non-profit Insurance Information Institute, discusses the importance of reading your homeowners policy and getting flood insurance. She explains how to purchase flood coverage, its cost and how much protection it can provide. She also talks about lessons learned in the year since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma devastated the southeast. (Additional information can be found at www.iii.org) About Jeanne Salvatore, Senior Vice President, Insurance Information Institute As senior vice president for public affairs at the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I), Jeanne Salvatore plays a highly public role in representing the Institute and the insurance industry. Ms. Salvatore works closely with national and local media, appearing often on radio, TV and in print as a spokesperson for insurance-related issues that directly affect consumers, both individual and commercial. She also serves as the industry liaison to numerous consumer, education, safety and community-based organizations. She joined I.I.I. in 1988. Among her earlier achievements, she became an expert on the issue of insurance fraud and was instrumental in the development of a national agenda to combat it, and co-authored Fighting the Hidden Crime: a National Agenda to Combat Insurance Fraud. She also has served as I.I.I.'s director of crisis communications, and produced this summer's Northeast Hurricane Project conference in New York.
YouTube | August 30, 2006
