Lessons from Hurricane Sandy, a Year Later: Howard Mills Looks Back

October 27, 2013 by Howard Mills

The one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy may mark an appropriate time to review how the insurance industry reacted to this disaster and the lessons we can draw from that. As a former insurance superintendent in New York, my view of Sandy and its aftermath is colored by the memory of the work I did in that office trying to get both consumers and the industry ready for the big one sure to come.

Executive Summary

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Deloitte's Howard Mills reviews the industry's response to the disaster and the lessons learned—chief among them the need for insurers to continue educating consumers, businesses and government on how to prepare for natural disasters.
Executive SummaryOn the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, Deloitte’s Howard Mills reviews the industry’s response to the disaster and the lessons learned—chief among them the need for insurers to continue educating consumers, businesses and government on how to prepare for natural disasters.

There were some failures. Despite numerous consumer education campaigns, the take-up on federal flood insurance was and remains frighteningly low, and price changes due to Biggert-Waters will only make that worse.