Following the August 9th flood, restoration teams across Wisconsin mobilized rapidly to tend to thousands of losses, showcasing their leadership, preparedness and community impact.
I have worked in many CAT losses, where I created friendships with government agents, adjusters, environmental professionals, and restorers. The consensus is “CAT losses are some of the hardest, dirtiest, unsafe, time consuming, physically exhausting, and mentally challenging jobs you will ever be involved with”. If you plan on working in CAT losses, consider the following.
While crises can take many forms, standardizing a response plan to prepare for such events can help ensure your fleet minimizes downtime while maximizing safety. The thoroughness of your fleet’s response plan and protocols allows your organization to remain informed and ready to act during stressful times.
With CAT season coming soon, we invited Avelina Lamb, owner of PuroClean of Chandler, to discuss her franchise’s approach to growing CAT restoration services. She shares advice based on work in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida, as well as fire and smoke damage projects in Colorado following recent wildfires.
"NOAA’s geostationary satellite system provides the only continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, enabling forecasters to issue warnings to protect the lives and property of the one billion people, who live and work in the Americas,” said Steve Volz, Ph.D., assistant administrator of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.
“By leveraging granular data for the increasing frequency and severity of catastrophes, we are able to see that more than 14.5 million homes were impacted to some degree by natural hazards in 2021. That’s about 1 in every 10 homes in the United States,” said Tom Larsen, CoreLogic’s principal, Industry Solutions.
Julie and Tony Roberts’ SERVPRO franchise in Henderson, Ky., is directly involved with CAT restoration work following the devastating tornadoes that touched down in December 2021, including one of the largest projects in the town of Mayfield, Ky.
Developed by NCEI with data from NOAA, FEMA and academic institutions, this interactive NOAA mapping tool provides detailed information on a location’s susceptibility to weather and climate hazards that can lead to billion-dollar disasters — such as wildfires, floods, drought and heat waves, tornado outbreaks, and hurricanes.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has released the agency’s 2022-2026 FEMA Strategic Plan, outlining a bold vision and three ambitious goals designed to address key challenges the agency faces during a pivotal moment in the field of emergency management.
