With an above-average hurricane season predicted for 2007 by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others, it's critical for businesses to have their emergency preparations in place as soon as possible.

As Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, these storms can cause significant losses to a large geographic area, as well as affect transportation, supply chains, housing markets, and employment markets, well beyond their initial strike zone.

Before a storm hits, organizations should consider pre-loss actions such as developing business continuity and crisis management plans, establishing internal and external communications procedures, putting in place and testing emergency response plans, assessing the resilience of their supply chains, instituting data back-up and recovery protocols, evaluating levels of insurance coverage, and creating post-loss claims accounting and filing systems.

Understanding the potential impact uncontrollable severe weather such as hurricanes can have on your operations, no matter where you are located, and preparing for it, is the key to managing these risks. You and your employees should know what to do before, during, and after a storm hits.

The Risk Consulting Practice, together with colleagues in the greater Marsh and affiliated companies such as Kroll and Mercer have developed a number of resources and services to assist organizations in understanding the possible impacts of a hurricane and other natural hazards. New content will be added here on a regular basis. To be alerted to such additions, please contact us.

New Reality of Risk Panel Discussion — Hurricane Preparedness 2007 and Quarterly Insurance-market Conditions Report

On April 25, Marsh's New Reality of Risk webcast series will include a special discussion on hurricane preparedness, along with a quarterly report on insurance-market conditions. Panelists included:

• Mike Hudson, of Marsh's Property Practice
• Bob O'Brien, Marsh's catastrophe response coordinator
• Fletcher MacGregor, Marsh's Global Natural Hazards practice leader
• Don Endress, a senior director with Risk Management Solutions (RMS)
• Dan Aronson, of Marsh's Casualty Practice
• Eugene Sheehan, Marsh's D&O practice leader

New Reality of Risk Panel Discussion — Preparing for the 2006 Hurricane Season

Hurricane preparedness is discussed by a panel of experts including the lead developer of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center's Atlantic hurricane outlook, a regional vice president of operations for a major hotel chain impacted by Hurricane Katrina, and Marsh experts in property coverage, business continuity, and catastrophe response.

Hurricane Preparedness and Response Checklist

The checklist can be used as a starting point for ensuring your organization is prepared for and able to respond to a hurricane.

Newsletter – Hurricane Preparedness & Response

During the hurricane season, Risk Consulting issues a newsletter addressing key hurricane preparedness and response topics such as property loss control, claims management, security, data recovery, and workforce strategies. Two issues from 2006 are available for downloading.

Risk Alert – The Impact of Nature: The Aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Experts from Risk Consulting, Marsh and sister companies explore how these two hurricanes affected the U.S. economy and, more specifically, the cost and availability of insurance. This white paper also includes insights on how businesses can cope with both the short- and long-term consequences of Katrina and Rita.

Recommended Links to Major Government and NGO Web Sites

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center