IBHS News Releases

Philadelphia - Hurricane Katrina not only devastated a large area of the nation's Gulf coast, it also raised fundamental questions about how the nation can, and should, deal with the inevitable problems of economic risk and social responsibility.

On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina is a new book that gathers leading experts to identify lessons that the devastating storm teaches us about assessing, perceiving and managing risk from future disasters.

“It is virtually certain that we will confront at least one such catastrophe, or perhaps one we have never imagined,” says volume co-editor Howard Kunreuther, professor and co-director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.  “When they do occur, the consequences can be severe, and the nation and its citizenry must be prepared to act.”

The University of Pennsylvania recently convened the National Symposium on Risk and Disasters, and that collaborative effort led to this unprecedented book.

Contributors address questions of public and private roles in dealing with risk in American society and suggest strategies for moving ahead in rebuilding the Gulf coast.  One such article, “Providing Economic Incentives to Build Disaster-Resistant Structures,” was written by Harvey Ryland, president and CEO of the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).

For more information about On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, contact University of Pennsylvania Press, www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14002.html.