April 2020 Chapter Meeting - Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves
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Our April meeting hit a new milestone! We had attendees from four other ACP chapters in our virtual meeting, setting the stage for other opportunities to share across chapters in the future. Dr. Keith Porter, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, presented a program on the importance of hazard mitigation and focused on the question, what can continuity professionals learn from this Nationwide Benefit-Cost Analysis? It’s a known fact that we can add resilience to buildings and support systems. We’ve seen the impact of built-in resilience just in the changes to buildings in flood or hurricane zones. According to Dr. Porter, mitigation can save up to $13 of avoided future losses for every $1 invested. There are affordable and highly cost-effective strategies that policymakers, building owners, risk managers, and others can deploy to reduce impacts from natural disasters. It’s a matter of investment, and many decision-makers need extensive analysis like what Dr. Porter presented to justify recommending costly mitigating practices. In addition to his position as a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Porter is principal of the applied research firm SPA Risk LLC. He has 30 years of experience in engineering practice and university research addressing how people, companies, and communities can protect themselves from natural disasters. |
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